Fianna Fáil Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív has called on the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton to immediately address the inordinate delays in processing applications and appeals for a range of social welfare payments. According to figures received by Dep Ó’Cuív, nearly 30,000 applications for a range of payments have not been processed within three months. This includes 6,782 applicants for the Carer’s Allowance, 4,965 new claimants for the Family Income Supplement, 3,408 applications for the Job Seekers Allowance as well as 2,876 applicants for Disability Allowance.
The Fianna Fáil TD has said the protracted delays are totally unacceptable,’ said Dep Ó Cuív. “We cannot tolerate a situation where tens of thousands of people who are in need of support from the State due to disability, unemployment or very low incomes are waiting months on end for their applications to be processed. There are also a very high number of people whose initial applications were inexplicably rejected and who are still waiting for their appeals to be processed,”
