Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 September 2022
203. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Social Protection the average time for assessing an application for the exceptional needs payment and supplementary welfare allowance; and if she is satisfied with such timeframes. [47595/22]
View answerThe Community Welfare Service (CWS) in my Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
Based on the available data, it is estimated that 50% of applications for Additional Needs Payments are finalised within 0-4 weeks and that 90% are finalised within 0-8 weeks.
63% of all Supplementary Welfare Allowance payments are decided within 4 weeks from the date of application and 92% are decided within 8 weeks of application.
Where an application is not finalised within this timeframe, this may be due to additional information or documentation being requested from the customer to support their application. Where it is evident that a customer is experiencing particular hardship and their application is complete and accompanied by the required documentation, their application is prioritised.
My Department continues to work to improve the service to customers and every effort is being made to minimise decision wait times.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
