• Home
  • US Envoy
    • Undocumented Irish
  • Biography
  • Memorial
  • Contact
  • Recent
johndeasytd.com

PAC 2015-16

Lengthy turnaround times in processing social welfare applications

28/5/2015

0 Comments

 
John Deasy - questioned the delays in processing social welfare applications across certain categories
PAC Meeting | May 28, 2015

Dept of Social Protection called and examined

[Extract]
Deputy John Deasy:  I turn to a broad issue within the Department which is the turnaround time from application to payment. I know from my own office that it is taking a great deal of time. 

The one we point to most is the invalidity payment. These are people who have made contributions and worked and we estimate that in some cases it takes approximately 18 months from the time an application is made to payment. It is too long. 

Obviously, there are a range of waiting times for the different payments that the Department has figures on. It knows the averages. It is not getting much better in our opinion from our anecdotal experience in the office with regard to the people we deal with when it comes to applications, assessments and the wait to final payment. It is something I have raised before but we have not seen any improvement.

Ms Niamh O'Donoghue [Secretary General, Dept of Social Protection]: I am sorry to hear that. It does not accord with what the data are telling us in the Department. I would be very happy to explore the particular issues with the Deputy or to give him more detailed information on this rather than to take too much time on it. 

I accept entirely that the figures here are average processing times, but on invalidity pension the average processing time currently is 10.7 weeks. 

We should bear in mind that invalidity, in common with a number of other schemes where there is a medical component, has an additional processing time. As the Deputy has correctly stated, invalidity is an insurance-based scheme and is based on a person having a contribution history but who also must meet the medical criteria. 

Currently, 10.7 weeks is the average from application to what we call a "clean award". What I mean by that is the first decision to award. There is no doubt in relation to quite a number of medical schemes that initial decisions might be negative and reviews or appeals might then be looked at through which in most instances additional information is provided which, in turn, often allows for a positive decision to be reached. 

There are many instances of that. The experience of the Deputy seems to out-lie what the national figures are telling us and I would be very happy to look at it for him.

John Deasy:  It is fair enough that those are the Department's data. I am just saying it is not our experience. I will collate the instances I have and give them to the Secretary General. I understand what she is saying, which is that outside of the appeals process, it is two and a half months, whereas my estimate is a great deal longer.

Niamh O'Donoghue: There are a number of things we have done. In the last two and a half years, we have placed a huge focus on dealing with backlogs, which were very significant in a number of different scheme areas, including carer's allowance, disability allowance, invalidity pension and FIS. 

We put a great deal of effort into trying to improve those processing times and made huge inroads. Very significant inroads were made such that the level of service has improved dramatically from what I will be the first to admit was an unacceptable level. 

If the Deputy's experience or the experience of the people he is hearing about constitute significant outliers to the figures I have mentioned, it means there is some issue at play. It may be in relation to the information being provided, but I would be very happy to have a look at it and come back to the Deputy.

John Deasy: As far as the different payments and schemes are concerned, where are the largest backlogs and the worst delays from the time someone makes an application to payment?

Niamh O'Donoghue:
I can let the Deputy know that in one moment. In terms of average times, the latest processing figures we have indicate that some of the most significant areas are widow's contributory pension and child benefit where the child benefit is being claimed under EU regulations.

John Deasy: How long is it for widows?

Niamh O'Donoghue: That is showing at 28 weeks currently.  There can be issues in regard to that, ranging from people not completing forms correctly, not responding to requests for further information, not providing all the detail we ask for and, particularly in the context of the illness payment, not giving us sufficient medical information that allows for a decision.

John Deasy:  A person has to wait six or seven months for widow's contributory-----

Niamh O'Donoghue: Yes, but as I said, that is an outlier. It can be as much to do with the circumstances of the particular scheme.

John Deasy: Fair enough. Every application has its own peculiarities in many respects. Looking for financial or medical records can get very complicated. Has the Department had any success in improving the wait times when it comes to widows? Is it getting worse or better?

Niamh O'Donoghue: That is one that is currently flagging as a problem area, so we will be looking at that. In all the other scheme areas where we have problems we have made significant improvements. That has been the trend over the past number of years.

Mr. Seamus McCarthy: Can I make a comment on that, and it might be something the committee could look at? There is a notification for people. It is a widow's contributory pension, so it occurs after an event when somebody becomes a widow.

Niamh O'Donoghue: Yes.

Seamus McCarthy [Comptroller and Auditor General]: There is not any conversion from other schemes, or does that arise in many of those cases?

Niamh O'Donoghue: It can arise. Obviously, if the person who died was a recipient of a primary social welfare payment, once we are aware that the person has died we would then initiate contact with the spouse for application, but I can have a look at that specifically and furnish information showing the reason for that. 

It is flagging as a problem at the moment. It would not previously have flagged as a problem so there is obviously a particular difficulty at the moment for us there.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Meetings 2015-16

    Archives

    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Fast finder

    All
    1916
    2016
    Abolition
    Abuse
    Abuse Allegations
    Agriculture
    Aidan O'Driscoll
    Air Service
    Allegations
    Alleged Abuse
    AmCHam
    American Chamber
    Anglo Irish Bank
    An Post
    Ansbacher
    Apple
    Aran Islands
    ASEAN Countries
    BEPS
    Bord Bia
    Brendan Howlin
    Broadband
    Budget 2015
    Bunmahon
    Business
    Carer's Allowance
    Carlow
    Carlow IT
    Catherine Murphy
    CDETB
    Central Bank
    Children
    Collective Bargaining
    Commerce
    Communications
    Competitiveness
    Comptroller And Auditor General
    Comptroller And Auditor Generall
    Conal Devine Report
    Contracts
    Cork IT
    Council Services
    Criminal Justice
    Dairy Sector
    Department Of Agriculture
    Department Of Arts
    Department Of Education
    Department Of Finance
    Department Of Foreign Affairs
    Department Of Health
    Department Of Justice
    Department Of Social Protection
    Derek Moran
    Digital
    Director Of Corporate Enforcement
    Disability Allowance
    Double Irish
    Dublin
    Dungarvan
    Dunmore East
    Easter Rising
    EATR
    EC
    Ecommerce
    Education
    ERDF
    ESRI
    EU
    European Commission
    European Investment Bank
    FDI
    FIS
    Fishery Harbours
    Fishery Hatbour Centres
    Fishing
    Foster Care
    Foster Home
    Frank Daly
    Fraud
    Garda
    Garda Commissioner
    Gardaí
    Garda Síochána
    Garda Síochána
    Government Procurement
    Grants
    Gulf States
    Hanoi
    Harbour
    HEA
    Health
    Health Service Executive
    Heritage And The Gaeltacht
    Higher Education Authority
    HMRC
    Ho Chi Minh City
    Howth
    HSBC
    HSE
    HSE Contracts
    IBEC
    IBRC
    IDA
    Industrial Relations Act
    Invalidity Pension
    Investment
    Irish Embassy
    Irish Language
    Irish Postmasters Union
    ISIF
    IT Carlow
    Jim Breslin
    Joe Costello
    Joe Duffy
    Joe Hamill
    John Deasy
    John McGuinness
    John Sculley
    Justice
    Kathleen Lynch
    Kerry Group
    Kill
    Killybegs
    Kilmainham
    KPMG
    Labour Court
    Lazards
    Local Authorities
    Local Government
    London
    Marine
    Mark Griffin
    Martin Shanahan
    Merger
    Michael Kelly
    Milk Quotas
    Minister For Health
    Multinationals
    NAMA
    National Broadband Plan
    Niall Cody
    Niamh O'Donoghue
    Noel Waters
    Northern Ireland
    ODCE
    OECD
    Official Languages Bill
    PAC
    Passage East
    PER
    Phil Hogan
    Pig Farmer
    PIMCO
    Postal
    Prime Time
    Procurement
    Project Eagle
    Public Accounts Committee
    Public Procurement
    Public Services Card
    Resilience Ireland
    Revenue
    Revenue Commissioners
    Robert Watt
    Rural Ireland
    Secretary General
    Section 39 Bodies
    Shanghai
    Simon Coveney
    Siteserv
    SIU
    Social Protection
    Social Welfare
    Social Workers
    South East
    Special Investigations Unit
    Special Liquidators
    State Ports
    Stock Exchange
    Strategic Investment Fund
    SUSI
    Switzerland
    Tax Avoidance
    Taxman
    Technological University
    Tendering
    Tenders
    Tom Galvin
    Town Councils
    Trade
    Tralee IT
    Translation
    UK
    United States
    University
    US Congress
    VEC
    Vietnam
    War Of Independence
    Waterford
    Waterford Institute Of Technology
    Waterford IT
    Waterford Memorial
    West Waterford
    Whistleblower
    Whistleblowers
    WIT
    World Bank

JOHN DEASY TD

  • Constituency Office 35, O'Connell Street, Dungarvan, Co Waterford
  • Phone 058-43003​
  • Email john.deasy@oireachtas.ie

Back to Top

  • Home
  • US Envoy
    • Undocumented Irish
  • Biography
  • Memorial
  • Contact
  • Recent
✕