Additional staff will be deployed to process carers allowance, a Limerick Senator has said.
Maria Byrne raised the issue of a delay in processing applications with her Fine Gael colleague, Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty.
And now Senator Byrne can confirm that extra staff will help speed up the process, meaning applicants will receive their payments sooner.
Senator Byrne said: “I raised the issue after being contacted by people who have been waiting for months for decisions on their social welfare applications. I welcomed the announcement from the Minster of Social Protection that more resources are to be allocated to address the significant delays in processing of carers allowance applications.
“New claims for Carers Allowance are currently taking approximately 17 weeks to process while the Domiciliary Care Allowance applications are taking 15 weeks to process.
“There should be continuity in the amount of time a person has to wait for their social welfare application to be processed. Other social welfare payments such as job seeker’s benefit, illness benefit or a widow or widower’s contributory pension are processed in one week.” She concluded.
More about politics here.
