Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 October 2004
300 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average waiting time for new applicants per benefit; the steps he proposes to introduce to reduce this time; and the average timescale particularly for persons who have recently suffered a bereavement and await a survivor’s pension. [23467/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department aims to provide a prompt, efficient service to all our customers. Applications for social welfare payments are processed and entitlements are issued as quickly as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply to each scheme.
These conditions vary from scheme to scheme. In the case of insurance-based schemes, the person's contribution record must be established. For illness or disability schemes, medical certification by the applicant's own doctor is required and it may be necessary for a medical assessor of my Department to carry out an assessment to ensure the medical conditions of the scheme are fulfilled.
Assistance schemes require, inter alia, an assessment of the person’s means to be carried out. This may involve a visit to the person’s home by an inspector of my Department.
On average, the length of time taken to award claims for disability benefit, unemployment schemes and child benefit ranges from two to three weeks. Claims for old age, invalidity pensions and family income supplement take an average of six to nine weeks to process and cases where the conditions of entitlement are more complex, such as payments for carers, one parent families and disability allowance cases, currently require between ten and 20 weeks on average to finalise. Bereavement grants and widows pension claims take three to five weeks. Once a claim is decided payment is normally made within one week.
Details of the average clearance times for new claims for the month of August 2004, and year to-date including August, on a scheme by scheme basis, are in the table which I will make available to the Deputy. The over-riding consideration in processing claims is to ensure that customers receive their correct entitlement and decisions are not taken until all appropriate information is available.
Improving customer service is a priority of my Department. In regard to clearance times, performance targets have been set for all of the main schemes and these are published and reported on. My Department has also commenced the introduction of the service delivery model, a new IT and business system which will improve customer service using the most up to date technology and business models.
The programme will also facilitate integration of services and will introduce efficiencies which will have beneficial effects on the processing of claims. The first phase of this system is already in place for child benefit. It has enabled a radical re-engineering of the child benefit application process by dovetailing with the computerised birth registration data flowing from the new civil registration system. As a result of these changes, in the case of first born children, partially completed claim forms are issued automatically to the mother for her signature and for payment instructions. For second and subsequent children an increase in child benefit is awarded and put into payment automatically.
This service delivery modernisation programme is being extended to other schemes on a progressive basis. The second phase of this programme, which covers contributory retirement and old age pensions, schemes related household benefit schemes and bereavement grants, was initiated in June 2004. It will be implemented during the second half of 2005.
