Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2012
246. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for processing of applications for family income supplement at Longford social welfare; the number of persons waiting more than six months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55321/12]
View answerThe Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
FIS claims, both new and renewal, received on or after the 5th November 2012 are currently being processed on receipt. There are currently 293 new applications and 94 renewal applications waiting for more than 6 months. In addition to delays caused by the current backlog of claims awaiting processing, factors that can delay FIS applications are the provision of information and documentation by applicants and their employers as well as cases which require information from other EU countries or where referral to the social welfare inspectorate is required.
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.
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.
