Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2012
356. Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection if any steps will be taken to address the backlog in application for family income supplement as applicants are informed that these will not be dealt with until January 2013 at the earliest, even though some people applied over six months ago and having regard to the anxiety and hardship accruing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52210/12]
View answer393. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures being taken to address the backlog of family income supplement payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52599/12]
View answer424. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection the current waiting time for family income supplement applicants; if applicants who have been waiting for 18 or 19 weeks for their application to be processed will not now be dealt with until after Christmas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52891/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 356, 393 and 424 together.
The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers.
FIS claims, both new and renewal, received on or after the 5th November 2012 are currently being processed on receipt.
An in-depth business process improvement (BPI) project has recently been completed for the FIS scheme. This project focused on optimising output, improving customer service and the elimination of backlogs. Part of the project was a detailed examination of workloads and a full assessment of existing capacity within the area and what capacity is needed in order to process the volumes of claims, both new and renewal, being received on a weekly basis.
The outcome of this review is a detailed plan outlining the process required to manage both the continuous weekly intake and backlog claims clearance. This plan sees the current weekly new claim and renewal intake processed by one team, while the backlog is ring-fenced and a focused team assigned to this work with a clear plan for its elimination.
This team including additional temporary resources has been identified and is already assigned and working on the backlog claims. In order to reduce the time it will take to eliminate the backlog, some claims are being processed outside of Longford Social Welfare Services Office. This team is fully focussed on the elimination of the backlog of claims in the shortest possible timeframe, concentrating in the first instance on those claims which were previously in payment but where payment has expired and continuing on to first-time new claims. Within those categories, those waiting the longest will be processed first.
While it is not possible to clear all claims in the backlog before Christmas, every effort will be made to pay as many eligible claims as possible in that timeframe. It is expected that the backlog will be fully eliminated by the end of March 2013. Claims which are approved by the backlog team will be backdated to the date of claim or the date of expiry of the previous claim, as appropriate, and all arrears due will be paid.
