Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2012
368. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps she is taking to address the delay in processing applications within her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43333/12]
View answerMy Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers and continuously strives to achieve the highest standard of customer service possible. The Department relies on the knowledge and expertise of its staff to deliver these services and, in view of their crucial role, the numbers of staff required to deliver a quality customer service is kept under constant review.
In the period since May 2008, some 1,045 staff have been redeployed to the Department to fill critical vacancies in scheme areas, local offices, central support units and the Department’s inspectorate to deal with the increased volume of claims due to the downturn in the economy. The Department also makes judicious use of overtime and employs temporary staff as appropriate to address particular service issues as they arise.
In general across departmental schemes delays are kept to an absolute minimum. In August 2012, for instance, 96% of domestic State Pension Contributory claims being decided by the date of entitlement and 98% of illness benefit claims were decided within 1 week. However, customers for some other Departmental schemes such as family income supplement and carer’s allowance are experiencing lengthy delays at present.
Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria for the scheme involved. In order to meet the dual challenges of increased claim volumes and the demand for shorter processing times, the Department has embarked on a major programme of process redesign and modernisation involving the development and roll-out of new computer systems and streamlined work practices. In addition, a programme of business improvement process projects is underway in the Department’s Longford Headquarters, which deals with long-term disability, carer’s and family income supplement schemes. This programme is aimed at eliminating excessive delays and began with invalidity pension. A significant reduction in the number of new invalidity pension claims awaiting decision has been achieved with numbers reducing from 7,007 at the start of June 2012 to 5,372 at the end of September 2012. Similar projects are currently underway in the carer’s allowance and family income supplement areas.
I should also point out that in order to offer a more streamlined, efficient and integrated service to customers, the Department is undergoing a process of intensive planning and organisational change in establishing the new National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES). This service brings together the Community Welfare Service (CWS), the Employment Services and Community Employment Programmes of FÁS, the Rural Social Scheme and Community Services Programme from the former Department of Community, Equality and the Gaeltacht and the Redundancy and Insolvency schemes from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.
The new NEES model will integrate all employment and benefit support services in a single delivery unit and will provide a coherent integrated and more personalised service to customers. It will also serve to eliminate the duplication of work that characterised services which were provided separately in the past.
