Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
558. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the efforts being made to speed up the processing of applications for the carer's allowance and benefit, disability allowance and invalidity pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25552/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy 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.
I am pleased to report that the time taken to process new claims for Carer’s Allowance (CA), Carers Benefit (CARB), Disability Allowance (DA) and Invalidity Pension (INVP) have reduced significantly over the past year. The average time to award a new CA application at the end of August 2020 was 6 weeks, as compared to 16 weeks in August 2019. The average time to award a new CARB application at the end of August 2020 was 4 weeks, as compared to 13 weeks in August 2019. The average time to award a new DA application at the end of August 2020 was 6 weeks, as compared to 14 weeks in August 2019. The average time to award a new INVP application at the end of August 2020 was 7 weeks, as compared to 10 weeks in August 2019.
A number of temporary staff were assigned to assist with processing new applications for all these schemes and this, coupled with the implementation of new business processes, contributed to improvements in claim processing. These changes have worked well and had a positive outcome in reducing claim processing times, which are now back well within target, together with a reduction in the number of claims awaiting decision.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
