Vol. 554 No. 5
1686 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason it is taking so long for queries to be answered by the child benefit section of her Department; if the dispute in that section is fully settled; and if so, the reason it is taking so long for the section to deal with the queries sent to it. [16105/02]
Earlier this year service from the Department's child benefit office was restricted by reason of an industrial dispute. Due to the backlog that arose it was necessary, following the resolution of the dispute, to restrict telephone service in order to concentrate the available resources on claim processing. This succeeded in clearing the backlog and normal telephone service was resumed from August.
At this time of year there is a seasonal peak in the case of claims for children over 16 years who resume full-time education. As a result the overall volume of telephone calls increases. Staff are being redeployed as circumstances allow to deal with the increased volumes of telephone calls but the overriding priority is to clear the claims as quickly as possible.
The situation is being monitored on an ongoing basis. Every effort is being made to minimise any inconvenience to customers while this seasonal claims influx is being dealt with.
