As waiting lists hit 28 weeks on average, Catherine Murphy condemns Carer’s Allowance system as “chaotic”

Press Release | 26 April 2012

Deputy Catherine Murphy (Independent for Kildare North) has roundly criticised the Government’s strategy in relation to Carer’s Allowance, saying that delays in the awarding of the “vital” support are approaching “crisis levels”. The Deputy was speaking during a Dáil debate requested by her on the issue.

“At a time when Home Help hours have been cut dramatically and the Government are reviewing the Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme, it is absolutely vital that an efficient and accessible system for Carers Allowance be put in place. Instead of this we’re seeing huge delays in application processing and highly onerous conditions being applied to those applications, necessitating protracted appeals.

“On principle, people must be afforded the opportunity in to stay in their own homes if possible.”

Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Equality and Mental Health admitted that the waiting period for Carer’s Allowance applications was now at 28 weeks, and that the delays were primarily due to the implementation of a new processing system. While some staff will be redeployed to deal with the backlog, processing will still take “a number of months”, the Minister said.

Extract from Dáil Topical Debate Number 1, 25th April 2012

(Full text can be accessed here)

Deputy Catherine Murphy: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic.  Most of us look at the cases that come before us in our constituency offices and see trends.  There is no doubt that every week we are seeing increasing numbers of people coming in with concerns about carer’s allowances.  An applicant can expect to wait for eight months, which seems to be the average time before the application is reviewed or a decision is made.  If one is refused, as a very large number of people are, with one third of the refused applications being overturned on appeal, it will be 14 months to 18 months from beginning to end when the appeal is included.

 

One cannot talk about home care packages and people being inappropriately referred to nursing homes if one does not look at the nuts and bolts of what is happening in this area.   I had two cases this week which illustrate this point very well.  A man came to me who is caring for both his father and his mother.  One consultant said of the father: “He is wheelchair-bound, I am booking him for extensive revision surgery.  He may well remain permanently in a wheelchair.”  The second consultant said the father was completely unable to take care of himself for the foreseeable future and were it not for his son looking after him for the previous five months, he would have required institutional care.  That man was refused and the case is on appeal.  How can anybody refuse such a case where consultants are being second-guessed and that kind of information is on the file?  It is mind-boggling.

The second person I met had a sister who is caring for both her mother and her brother, who is in a wheelchair, has an invalidity pension and is visually impaired.  Her sister was formerly paid a carer’s allowance.  Between them they wanted to swap the allowance from one sister to the other, who had stopped working in order to do this.  She was refused on the basis that her mother was not incapacitated enough.  There was no mention of her brother even though both persons were included on the same application form.  I submitted a parliamentary question asking how one can appeal on behalf of one person when there are two people on the same application form.

There is something chaotic going on in the Department, particularly in regard to the carer’s allowance.  I echo the point made by Deputy Donohoe.  It is most reflective of the kind of chaos that happened in regard to medical cards.  That situation has improved substantially but this one needs urgent attention because it is chaotic at present.

 

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kathleen Lynch): Currently, there are approximately 52,000 recipients of carer’s allowance.  Of these, approximately 22,000 are in receipt of half-rate carer’s allowance in addition to another primary social welfare payment.  The rates of payment were maintained for carer’s allowance in budget 2012 and no changes were made to the means test for carer’s allowance.  The current income disregards for eligibility for the allowance, which are the most generous in the social welfare system, are €332.50 per week for a single person and €665 per week for a couple.  The increased payment for those caring for more than one person was also retained.  In addition, carers continue to get an annual respite care grant of €1,700 in respect of each person for whom they care.

The number of people claiming carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit has increased from  21,000 to 52,000, or about 250%, over the past ten years and the rate of receipt of new claims continues to remain at high levels.  There are currently approximately 7,800 new applications registered and awaiting a decision, with approximately 330 new applications being received each week.  This increase in claim-load has imposed significant demands on the Department’s processing staff both with regard to processing new claims and paying and maintaining the increased stock of beneficiaries.  In order to meet the challenge of increased volumes of new claims for its schemes, the Department has embarked on a major programme of process redesign and modernisation, including the deployment of new computer systems.  This new processing system is being introduced for the carer’s allowance scheme, with the first tranche of new carer’s allowance claims under the new system processed in August 2011.

It is anticipated that the new system will, when fully rolled out, introduce significant processing efficiencies and a quicker and more responsive service to the customer.  Accordingly, the project is being given high priority and involves a significant level of time and commitment from the relevant staff in the Department.  This has had a short-term negative impact on claim processing times which is expected to continue until the completion of the modernisation project in June of this year, when all existing carer’s allowance claims will be transferred onto the new processing system.  Accurate processing time figures are not available at present as applications are still being processed on both the old and the new computer systems.  The average time to award an application at present is estimated at around 28 weeks.  I know it can sometimes be longer.

I acknowledge that this is unsatisfactory but I am satisfied the Department is taking all steps available to it to resolve the issue.  In addition to the deployment of new systems which should address service levels in the medium term, the Department is allocating additional resources in the form of overtime working to help reduce backlogs that have built up.  In addition, approval has recently been given for the assignment of temporary staff to expedite the reduction of the backlogs.  However, it is expected to be a significant number of months before the backlog is reduced to an acceptable level.  Although the new systems and processes will facilitate a significant improvement in overall processing times, it should be noted that individual claims may continue to take some time to process.  Delays can also arise if those applying for the allowance are not in a position to supply all the necessary information in support of their claim.  Sometimes this is not the case.

In the meantime, if a person’s means are insufficient to meet his or her needs, the community welfare officer should step into the breach.  I am sure all Deputies know this.  With regard to carer’s benefit, there are currently 488 new applications on hand and the current average processing time is approximately ten weeks.

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