Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Carer's Allowance Waiting Times

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 November 2018

Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Ceisteanna (168)

Seán Haughey

Ceist:

168. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is satisfied with the length of time it takes to process an application for a carer's allowance; if measures will be introduced to speed up this process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46043/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.

Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested payment, made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that they require that level of care. An increased payment can be made where full-time care is being provided to two people.

At the end of September 2018 the average waiting time for a decision on a new CA application was 17 weeks. Additional staff have also recently been reassigned to the CA area to work on claims processing and this should lead to a reduction in processing times.

Before a decision can be made on entitlement to CA, evidence must be provided in respect of the carer’s habitual residence in the State, the level of care they provide, their means and also that the person being cared for has such a disability that they require full-time care and attention.

In general, social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process. This is compounded if the documentary evidence provided at initial application stage is incomplete or insufficient; this is sometimes the case with carer’s allowance applications.

The Department recently launched a re-designed CA application form. The new form includes a Care Report section which has been arrived at through consultation between officials and medical assessors of my Department and representatives and members of Family Carers Ireland. It is expected that the new form will allow carers to provide more information on the type and level of care they provide, with an aim to providing Deciding Officers with the information they need to expedite decisions on entitlement.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Barr
Roinn