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Illness Benefit Payments

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 February 2019

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Ceisteanna (50)

Thomas Pringle

Ceist:

50. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding illness benefit payment delays; if consideration is being given to a compensation scheme for those who were financially negatively affected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8094/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

A somewhat similar question was answered earlier but I am seeking a little more detail, particularly on whether the people who were caught up in the problem with illness benefit last year will be compensated for the money they have lost.

As the Deputy is aware, payment issues had arisen in the scheme last year when my Department transferred administration of the illness benefit scheme from an old legacy IT payments system to its core business IT platform.

Since then, my Department has been working hard to resolve these issues and to ensure that claims are processed and paid promptly.  We have made good progress in this regard, with payment levels maintained at the expected norm for the past couple of months. Thankfully, there is consistency in the payments. Telephone helpline and call handling performance has also been addressed and is now back to normal levels, although customers may still sometimes experience delays due to call volumes in particular weeks.

There has been an increase in claims for illness benefit in January. That reflects the annual increase at this time of year due to seasonal illnesses.  While over 9,000 transactions per day are processed, people who are due a payment and whose medical certificates and claims are in order, receive their payment entitlement promptly.  In stating this, there are always cases, and there were always cases, where people's payments are legitimately stopped, paused, or delayed for a variety of reasons, including the late submission of medical certificates or error on the part of people in the Department, the GPs or the applicants.

People who experienced an urgent financial need while awaiting an illness benefit payment were encouraged to apply to my Department's community welfare service to receive interim payments. They did that and we were able to look after most people relatively quickly. That avenue remains open to anyone who is adversely affected and the Department will respond sensitively to any case.  I am specifically referring to something the Deputy has brought to the attention of the House on a number of occasions. Some people incurred bank charges because of missed, delayed or no payments over a number of weeks or months. I encourage those people to apply to the local community welfare office to get those bank charges. Some people might say it is only a small amount of money but when people are living on illness benefit of €198 per week, bank charges of €15 or €30, which were imposed on them for something that had nothing to do with them in the first place, are not sustainable. People should make applications to the community welfare officer, CWO, and we will look after each case sensitively.

It is welcome that the Minister says compensation is now available to the people concerned because it is very important. It is interesting that if the Department makes a mistake and overpays someone, it is that person's responsibility and fault straightaway and he or she must repay the Department, yet it has been slow to accept that it has caused financial difficulty for people who have been depending on this system to survive and it has caused significant difficulties. There must be a system that will allow for documented repayments to be made. There must also be recognition within the Department of the turmoil caused which should be acknowledged. It is the least the people concerned should expect and vitally important that it happen.

I hope what I am saying to the Deputy is not new because we have had people come to us about this issue, particularly the bank charges imposed on them, and we have looked after them. A community welfare officer, CWO, is available in various places in every county. If there are people who have been put out financially because of charges imposed on them through no fault of their own, I ask the Deputy to tell them to make applications to us. There is other legislation at which I was looking dealing with longer term financial compensation, but it does not quite cut the mustard because one must be waiting for payment for longer than 12 months. It is called the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, SI 142, and concerns consolidation claims and payment controls. It allows people to be compensated, but it does not really apply in any of these cases because one must be without a payment for in excess of 12 months, having been entitled to receive it. The CWO is always willing for anyone to come forward. All one has to do is show a bank statement with the bank charges included in it. We deal with each case sensitively.

That is useful to hear, but when I raised this question probably four or five weeks ago, that was not the response I received. The Minister will see many people avail of this system. I hope it will accommodate them and ensure they are paid in a timely manner and that they will not have to fight for it, as has been the case.

I would hate to think anyone would have to fight for anything in the Department, given that the only reason we are there is to help people who need income support. I do not know all of the case officers in CWO offices, but they are incredibly nice and there to help people at the times they need it. As that is their job, the Deputy should just tell people to go to them.

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