Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 May 2012
226 Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who applied for invalidity pension that had their claims decided on last year; the number of persons that were granted invalidity; the number of persons refused invalidity pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22864/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information sought by the Deputy is as follows:
|
Claims Received |
Claims Cleared |
Claims Awarded(1 June to 31 Dec) |
Claims Disallowed(1 June to 31 Dec) |
|
|
2011 (total) |
14,621 |
10,508 |
Not available |
Not available |
|
1 Jan — 31 May |
6,155 |
3,704 |
Not available |
Not available |
|
1 June — 31 Dec |
8,466 |
6,804 |
2,107 |
4,697 |
A breakdown of claims awarded and disallowed in 2011 is available only for those claims dealt with from June to December 2011. A breakdown of claims awarded and disallowed in the period from January to the end of May 2011 is unavailable as claims were being processed on two separate computer systems prior to migration of all invalidity pension claims to the new computer platform.
227 Deputy Joe O’Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the action she will take to deal with the current backlog of carer’s allowance and disability allowance applications, that are currently taking almost a year to process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22871/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. In the interests of fairness and equity applications are processed, as far as possible, in order of the date on which they were received in the Department. A major service delivery modernisation project is underway to address the large increase in the claim-load and to improve the efficiency of administration of the carer's allowance and disability allowance schemes. This involves the development of information technology functions and associated business process re-organisation. It is anticipated that the new system will introduce significant processing efficiencies and a quicker and more responsive service to the customer. Accordingly, the project is being given high priority and involves a significant level of time and commitment from the relevant staff in the Department. This has had a short-term negative impact on claim processing times. This essential focus of certain staff resources will continue until the completion of the modernisation projects in June of this year when all existing carer's allowance claims and by the end of this year when all existing disability allowance claims will be transferred onto the new processing system.
Accurate processing time figures are not available at present as applications are still being processed on both the old and the new computer systems. The average time taken to award an application for disability allowance in 2011 was 17 weeks. There are approximately 6,300 new disability allowance applications registered and awaiting a decision. The average time to award a carer's allowance application at present is estimated at approximately 28 weeks. There are approximately 7,800 new carer's allowance applications registered and awaiting a decision. I acknowledge that this is unsatisfactory but I am satisfied that the Department is taking all steps available to it to resolve the issue. In addition to the deployment of new systems which should address service levels in the medium term, the Department is allocating additional resources in the form of overtime working to help reduce backlogs that have built up. In addition, temporary staff have been assigned to the disability allowance scheme and approval has recently been given for the assignment of temporary staff for the carer's allowance scheme to expedite the reduction of the backlogs. However, it is expected to be a significant number of months before the backlogs are reduced to an acceptable level. In the meantime, if a person's means are insufficient to meet their needs while awaiting a decision on an application, they may apply for a means-tested supplementary welfare allowance payment from their local community welfare officer.
