Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare South Fiona O’Loughlin has expressed huge concerns over the delays in processing social welfare payments.
“Through a series of Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection I have received the figures on the length of time a person is waiting on average to receive a decision on their application”.
The average waiting time in to date in 2018 for someone who has applied for carers allowance was 17 weeks; 11 week average waiting time for Disability Allowance and 10 weeks for a decision on Domiciliary Carers Allowance.
“These waiting times are simply unacceptable and the Minister must intervene to ensure that applications are processed.
O’Loughlin went on to say, “All applications are backdated to the date of submission however; a man or women with little or no income caring for a loved one are not in a position to wait for their money to come 17 weeks later”.
This year’s figures are exactly the same as 2017 meaning that progress is not getting any quicker
“My constituents in Kildare South and Laois are hugely impacted by these waiting times and I have people calling regularly who have been waiting months for word back and are finding it hard to survive while waiting on decisions to be made by the Department”
“Last year the Minister has said to me that staff have been re-assigned within the claims processing area and that it is expected that waiting times would reduce but this year’s figures remain unchanged”, concluded O’Loughlin.
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