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Carer's Allowance Applications

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2012

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Ceisteanna (690)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

690. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37807/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. Currently the average time taken to award a carer’s allowance application is 28 weeks.

I acknowledge that the time taken to process carer’s allowance claims at present is not satisfactory but I am satisfied that the Department is taking appropriate action to resolve the situation.

Carer’s allowance section has recently completed a major service delivery modernisation project to improve the efficiency with which it processes applications from clients for carer’s allowance. The project involved the development of IT functionality and associated business process re-organisation. Full deployment of the new system for Carer’s Allowance was completed in June 2012.

Following the completion of the modernisation project, an in-depth business process improvement (BPI) project commenced for the carer’s allowance scheme. This project focused on optimising output and customer service and the reduction of backlogs. The outcome of the review is the division of work into two steams. One concentrates on dealing with new claim intake and processed these without delay and the other on the backlog which is ring-fenced with a clear targeted plan for its elimination. Implementation of the plan commenced on Monday 3 September and will be closely monitored and managed to ensure it achieves its outcome. However, it will take a number of months before the backlog is reduced to an acceptable level. The allocation of available resourced to this task continues to be monitored.

I can confirm that the delay in processing applications does not result in any saving to the Department. If an application is awarded the payment is backdated to the date the application was made and all arrears due are issued.

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