Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 February 2023
8. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports she has put in place to deal with the consistent delays in processing applications for additional needs payments; the actions she has taken to ensure persons who require the payment to pay for a deposit or first month’s rent are not missing out on possible house rentals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5944/23]
View answerWhat supports has the Minister for Social Protection put in place to deal with the consistent delays in processing applications for additional needs payments and what actions has she taken to ensure persons who require the payment to pay for a deposit or first month's rent are not missing out on possible house rentals?
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The CWS is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are made quickly. There are no backlogs at present and work on hand is within the scheme's normal processing levels. Complete applications are mostly finalised within two weeks and there is less than two weeks' work in process currently.
It is important to note that, where it is clear a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort is made to ensure the claim is processed on the same day. CWOs are very experienced and can generally assess when a case is so urgent that it requires an immediate response. Approximately 10% of CWS payments to customers are made on this basis, which shows how responsive the service is to urgent customer need.
Where an application cannot be finalised promptly, the delay is normally due to additional information or documentation being requested from the person to support his or her application and the length of time it takes for the information to be provided. This can result in longer processing times for these applications as greater flexibility is given to clients, with extended time to respond. Upon receipt of this information, the application is processed quickly.
I would appreciate if the Deputy would let me know of any persons who are having difficulty in accessing support for a deposit or first month's rent. Much effort and resources have been applied to the CWS over recent months to ensure it is a responsive and available service for people. I trust this clarifies the matter.
Additional needs payment applications for assistance with deposits and rents are now being dealt with in the centralised office in Dublin. I am hearing the applications are taking weeks, if not months, to be processed. I have been contacted by a tenancy sustainment and support officer who works with people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. They are referred by the local authority to this person, who helps them get viewings of properties. Most are on social welfare and do not have the means to save for the deposit and first month’s rent. Cavan County Council does not operate a homeless HAP system so they have no option but to apply for the additional needs payment to cover these costs.
It results in a catch-22 situation because if they get a viewing at the property, which is very difficult in the current climate, they cannot afford the deposit and first month's rent. There is no assistance available, they apply for the additional needs payment, it is taking too long, the landlord gives the property to somebody with money readily available and they miss out. This is happening constantly. Something needs to be done to address it. We have a homeless crisis and it will get worse. I am talking about a city or large urban centre in Cavan.
If an application is made and all the information is provided, the answer is provided within two weeks. There will sometimes be cases where all the information is not provided and it takes longer.
If the Deputy gives me the specific case, I am happy to have it looked into. Specific cases are what I need. Sometimes when all the information comes to hand, it might not be what it originally seemed to be. I am not saying that is true of the Deputy’s case in Cavan.
We have put more staff into this section and there are a number of ways people can contact the service. They can go into the Intreo office in Cavan, which is open five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They can see a community welfare officer in there and explain their situation.
Some of the work is being done at a central office, which has helped to eradicate the backlog. There is no backlog now. We have been working extremely hard in trying to get these numbers down because we want to help people. That is what we are here for.
The fact is that two weeks is too long. Two weeks for some payments might be sufficient but for this case, where it is for a deposit or rent, an immediate payment is needed. Otherwise, the tenancy will be gone because there is such a demand. I do not know why the system was changed because there is an old saying that goes, if it is not broken, do not fix it.
Before this, somebody in the local authority who knew the person locally would have worked in the community welfare office and a good relationship would have been built up. That person could contact the office and say we have an urgent case of somebody fleeing a domestic violence situation or who is homeless and needs a payment, and the payment was processed within a day or two and resolved. That is not happening now, however.
Like Deputy Boyd Barrett said earlier, I am hearing that community welfare officers are not available either. There was a time when they used to have scheduled clinics at different times throughout the county and people could just drop in. That is not happening now from what I am hearing the ground. That was a great system where people just went to them and there was a personal touch and, as the Minister said, a humane attitude. Returning to that system could help resolve many issues on the ground.
There are a number of ways this can be done, which I explained previously. People can call into the social welfare Intreo office, pick up the telephone and ring us or apply online. If someone needs a member of staff, we will go out to his or her house. Those are all options. As I said, it is working because the number of claims waiting to be processed is down. There are two weeks in hand and there is a two-week turnaround time. If it is urgent, however, it is genuinely dealt with on the same day.
In terms of domestic violence, I changed that process. We can provide a rent supplement to people who are victims of domestic violence by way of a referral from Tusla and other designated organisations. This referral, along with the completed grant supplement application form, will allow victims of domestic violence a fast-track approval and screening process with a simplified means test to access a rent supplement for an initial three-month period. They can get that straight away for three months. That was something I was pleased we were able to introduce because that is a very difficult place for people to find themselves. An exceptional needs payment to cover a deposit and the first month's rent can also be provided promptly to a person in this situation. If the Deputy wants to give me the specific details, I will follow up on why it was not received immediately by that individual.
