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Departmental Schemes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 November 2012

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Questions (154)

Kevin Humphreys

Question:

154. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the ongoing delays of over six months in the processing of disability, invalidity and carer's allowance applications and the difficulties it is causing for members of the public who have to live with the uncertainty of the status of their entitlements for up to a year in some cases; the action being taken to address the backlog; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49990/12]

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Written answers

There has been a significant increase in the number of new claims received in all these three schemes over the past 3-4 years. A major service delivery modernisation project has been undertaken to improve the efficiency of administration of the three scheme areas in question and to help to deal with the increased volumes. This involves the deployment of information technology solutions and associated business process re-organisation. Full deployment of the new system for invalidity pension (IP) and carer’s allowance (CA) is now completed and will be completed for disability allowance (DA) by the end of this month. In tandem with the full implementation of the new system, comprehensive business process improvement exercises were recently completed in both IP and CA areas, the focus of which is to optimise performance and provide improved customer service. New organisational structures were introduced and additional temporary staff were allocated to IP and CA areas to support these initiatives.

I am pleased to say that the number of IP claims awaiting decision has decreased from 7,267 at the end of May 2012 to 4,560 at the end of October 2012 and continues to decrease. The new process and structures were implemented in CA on 3 September 2012. The number of claims awaiting decision there at the end of September was 10,322 and has reduced to 9,517 at the end of October 2012. Furthermore, an additional 10 temporary staff are being assigned to expedite backlog claim clearance in CA. It will take a number of months before the backlog is cleared but the process is continually monitored to ensure backlog eliminated in the shortest possible timeframe.

The current average time taken to process new DA applications is 17 weeks. Following the full deployment of the new system later this month, a similar business process improvement initiative will be commenced and a programme will be put in place to eliminate backlog of new applications. In the meantime, temporary staff have been assigned to DA to support the modernisation project and overtime working is being operated as appropriate. It should be noted that the time required to process a new application in each of the three schemes can vary depending on the complexity of the individual circumstances and the information provided by the claimant. In addition, a request for a review or an appeal by a person adds to length of time taken to deal with the claim.

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