andMr. Gogan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will cause an inquiry to be held into the reasons for the endemic procedural delays in his Department which bear so harshly on social welfare claimants, with a view to their speedy elimination.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare Delays.
14.
I do not accept that procedural delays are endemic in the administration of the schemes for which my Department is responsible. Administrative arrangements in relation to these schemes must comply with the requirements of legislation enacted by the Oireachtas and must also meet the obligations of public accountability. The Department must, therefore, ensure that these criteria are satisfied in the arrangements which they make. The general system of administration in my Department is continually under review and every effort is made to ensure that it functions as efficiently and effectively as possible. In processing claims for benefits extensive use is now made of advanced computerised techniques and further far-reaching developments in this respect are in train.
Delays undoubtedly occur in individual cases but many of these are outside the control of my Department. Claimants who fail to complete forms fully by, for example, omitting to furnish their insurance numbers or other necessary information may experience delays in the processing of their claims. I accept, of course, that delays also occur for which my Department can be held responsible but when account is taken of the fact that about one million new claims of all types are received in a year, or an average of 20,000 per week, it is only natural that occasional mistakes will arise through human error. I can assure the Deputies that I am most concerned about any delays that occur, no matter from what cause, and I will continue to do everything possible to ensure that such delays are kept to the absolute minimum.
Would the Minister agree that four months delay in the processing of claims is too much? Despite what he has stated about the efficiency of his Department, instances have been brought to my notice where claims were submitted as far back as November last which have not been dealt with yet.
I would agree that four months would be too long normally to process a claim but I do not accept that anything like that time is necesssary or, indeed, is the situation with regard to processing of claims. The Deputy has mentioned I think a particular case. I am not aware of any particular case that the Deputy may have in mind but I can assure him that if he gives me the details I will investigate that case.
Surely the Parliamentary Secretary must be aware that while a percentage of the million odd claims that he talks about may be low that does not in any way mitigate the hardship caused by unduly long delays. The most extreme case that I am aware of goes back to last August and it has not yet been dealt with. I am not saying that that is usual but that it should happen at all is surely a reflection on the system. This is a matter which the Parliamentary Secretary promised some time back to do something about if he could and I imagine he can. In the case of reinvestigations, they should not be delayed. In other words, payment should not be stopped while they are going on and if they are not right let the people have the consequences, but do not hurt the people who really are in need merely to protect the Department's coffers from those who are improperly drawing benefits.
As I pointed out in my original reply, there are cases that are not the fault of the Department in so far as sufficient or accurate information is not supplied to pursue a claim but there are cases where the Department accept responsibility for delays. I pointed out to the Deputy, and I think any reasonable person would accept, that where you are dealing with a million new claims per year or approximately 20,000 new claims per week it is only natural that there will be some human error in the handling of those. I am also very conscious of the fact that each individual case can cause considerable hardship and I am most anxious and I am making considerable efforts to minimise as far as possible any delay that may be occurring or may have occurred.