Written Answers. - Parliamentary Debates - Houses of the Oireachtas

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Questions— 14 February 2012. Written Answers Redundancy Payments 314. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons currently waiting for statutory redundancy applications to be processed; the average time for processing such applications; the number of staff involved in processing these applications; if any mechanism exists for fast-tracking these applications; if she will provide a breakdown of new applications by month from January 2011 to January 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7789/12] 351. Deputy Patrick O’Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection the procedure for the processing of redundancy applications; if applications are being processed as they are being received; the reason it appears that persons who have sought redundancy have not been paid but others who applied at a later date have received payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8245/12] Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton): I propose to take Questions Nos. 314 and 351 together. The purpose of the Redundancy Payments Scheme is to compensate workers, under the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 2007, for the loss of their jobs by reason of redundancy. Under the Redundancy Payments Acts an eligible employee is entitled to two weeks statutory redundancy payment for every year of service, plus a bonus week. Compensation is based on the worker’s length of reckonable service and reckonable weekly remuneration, subject to a ceiling of €600 per week. Employees must have at least two years’ service to be eligible for a redundancy payment. There are two types of redundancy payments — rebates to employers and lump sums paid directly to employees, where an employer refuses, or is unable to pay lump sums. Both rebate and lump sum payments are paid from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). It is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy to all eligible employees. An employer who pays statutory redundancy payments to employees is then entitled to a rebate from the State of a percentage of the relevant amount. There is currently a backlog of approximately 29,000 statutory redundancy claims on hand. There are two processing streams for redundancy claims. A new computerised system was introduced in October 2011 and online claims submitted correctly through this system may be processed, on average, within six to eight weeks. Manual claims submitted since October 2011 are also processed as part of this stream but take longer to process due to the need to enter the manual claims onto the new system. Claims submitted prior to the introduction of this new system require more clerical intervention and will take longer to process and are part of a second processing stream. The Department is currently processing claims in this category which were received in late May/early June 2011. There are currently 24 staff involved in processing applications, or in full-time equivalent terms, 22.3 staff. Applications received for the period January 2011 to January 2012 are as follows: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 4,846 3,090 5,350 3,738 4,103 3,670 4,712 3,827 3,367 2,265 3,969 6,850 4,774 464

Questions— 14 February 2012. Written Answers Social Welfare Benefits 315. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of first-time applications for domiciliary care allowance that were approved in each of the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. [7790/12] Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton): The Department has been accepting new claims for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) since 1st April 2009. Statistics relating to the allowance for the period prior to April 2009 are a matter for the HSE, the previous administrators of the scheme. The number of applicants for DCA allowed on initial application by the deciding officer in each of the last 3 years is as follows: Domiciliary Care Allowance applications — 2009 to 2011 Applications Applications Applications Applications received processed in year allowed* disallowed 2009 (from 1st April) 3,389 2,823 1,220 (43%) 1,603 2010 5,457 5,333 2,576 (48%) 2,757 2011 5,525 5,396 2,502 (46%) 2,894 *Includes cases initially disallowed but allowed on review by the deciding officer following receipt of additional information from the applicant. Job Losses 316. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that an organisation (details supplied) in County Galway is seeking redundancies to their workforce; if she has had discussions with this group to try ensure continuity of employment of the very special workforce there; if she has had discussions with the workers regarding retraining and locating alternative employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7804/12] Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton): The Minister is aware that 20 employees from the Rehab Recycling group in Ballybrit, Galway will be laid off at the end of March 2012. The lay-offs include 17 employees for whom the company receives a valuable DSP Wage Subsidy. DSP Employment Services have recently been in contact with the Rehab Recycling group to offer assistance and are currently awaiting a response to the offer. The services available include on-site group briefings and individual consultations with employees to identify training needs and individual job-seeking support requirements. Rehab Recycling will continue to receive a substantial wage subsidy payment from the Department to support the continued employment of 17 remaining employees who are being retained by the company. Social Welfare Appeals 317. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will examine the delay in processing the appeal of rent allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [7807/12] Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton): The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 30th November 2011. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal 465

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