Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 June 2025
102. Deputy Micheál Carrigy asked the Minister for Social Protection the average processing time for applications for each payment under his Department’s remit; if he plans to introduce new targets and provide additional resources to expedite the turnaround times in processing applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32708/25]
View answerMy Department regularly monitors and reviews the processing times for the schemes it administers. The targets are reviewed each year as part of the Estimates process, and also form part of the Public Service Performance Report compiled by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, alongside other Departmental targets. The Comptroller and Auditor General examined the methodology for the targets in the review of the 2018 accounts and found that the measures used are suitable, relevant, and reliable.The volume of claims received, the average processing time, the performance under the current target, and any operational changes are all considered when a decision is made to revise a target. At present, the Department is meeting or exceeding performance on nearly all of its schemes.This is reflected in the tables, which I will forward onto the Deputy, setting out the information he sought in the question. As shown in that table, and even though there is a continuous year-on-year increase in claim volumes related both to population growth and aging, and due to the impact of events like the war in Ukraine, most schemes are performing at the same level or better, in the case of disability allowance considerably better, than they were in 2024.Processing times and the allocation of resources is kept under constant review and resources are, when necessary, allocated to maintain service levels. The Working Family Payment scheme has, for example, received a significant increase in new claims, and additional resources have been allocated to deal with this higher volume.Similarly our Appeals Service has, related to the overall increase in claim volumes, also experienced an increase in appeals received and additional resources have recently been deployed to reduce backlogs and restore service levels.
|
Scheme |
Average weeks to award in April 2025 |
Average weeks to award in April 2024 |
|
State Pension (Contributory) - Irish |
3 |
4 |
|
Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension |
3 |
3 |
|
State Pension (Non-Contributory) |
10 |
8 |
|
Jobseekers Allowance |
2 |
2 |
|
Jobseekers Benefit |
1 |
1 |
|
Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit |
1 |
N/A |
|
One-Parent Family Payment |
2 |
4 |
|
Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
1 |
1 |
|
Maternity Benefit |
6 |
6 |
|
Paternity Benefit |
6 |
6 |
|
Parent's Benefit |
1 |
1 |
|
Carer's Allowance |
6 |
6 |
|
Carer's Benefit |
5 |
5 |
|
Disability Allowance |
6 |
11 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
6 |
7 |
|
Illness Benefit |
1 |
1 |
|
Occupational Injury Benefit |
1 |
1 |
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance |
5 |
5 |
|
Child Benefit |
1 |
1 |
|
Working Family Payment |
9 |
9 |
|
Household Benefits |
1 |
1 |
