Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2007
336 Deputy Olwyn Enright asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average length of time of assessment for a carer’s allowance application from the date of application to the date of payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22715/07]
View answerThe average time for deciding an application for carer's allowance is currently 10.64 weeks. During 2006 the average was just over ten weeks. My Department's claim processing target for Carers Allowance is for 70% of claims to be decided within nine weeks of submission.
The number of claims for Carers Allowance submitted in 2006 at nearly 11,000 was more than 20% higher than the total for 2005. In 2007 to date (at 28 September) some 10,500 claims have been received. A number of steps have been taken to deal with the increased volumes, including the deployment of additional staff and enhancements to processing procedures.
Entitlement to carer's allowance is based on an applicant satisfying medical, means and residency conditions. In determining entitlement to the allowance there are, in certain cases, unavoidable time lags involved in making the necessary investigations and enquiries to enable accurate decisions to be made. Delays can also arise if persons applying for the allowance are not in a position to supply all the necessary information in support of their claim.
Many applicants for carer's allowance are already in receipt of another social welfare payment while their claim is being processed. Such payments will normally continue until entitlement to their carer's allowance is determined.
Over 10,000 new claims have been decided this year (to 28th September). The volume of claims decided so far this year represents a 5.6% increase on the total claims decided in 2006 and a 14.4% increase on the total claims decided in 2005.
There are currently some 3,100 cases at various stages of processing and awaiting finalisation. Of these claims, some 2,800 were received in the last three weeks.
The large increase in applications for Carer's Allowance is related to the introduction of the Half Rate Carers Allowance payment which was announced in the 2006 Budget and came into effect from 27th of September 2007. It is expected that the majority of claims currently on hands will be processed within the next ten weeks.
