Some wait three months for benefits

NEWLY unemployed people are waiting for up to three months for their first social welfare payments in some parts of the country, Government figures have revealed.

While the average waiting time for the means-tested jobseekers’ allowance payment is, on average, more than five weeks, black spots around the country are experiencing substantial backlogs.

Tuam, Co Galway, where numbers signing on the live register have almost doubled in the past year, has the highest waiting time in the country, with people there waiting, on average, three months for payments.

As dole queues continue to lengthen, the figures reflect that social welfare staff cannot cope with the increasing numbers applying for benefits. All of the offices recording backlogs have seen numbers presenting to them double, or more.

But despite a Government pledge last December to deploy 115 extra staff to deal with the crisis, to date only a third of those have taken up their new positions.

Latest department figures show that at the end of December 2008, some 46,400 claims were awaiting a decision in relation to jobseekers’ payments.

Fine Gael spokeswoman Olwyn Enright said she was not surprised and dubbed Social Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin’s response to the crisis as “lethargic”.

Ms Enright said while it was understandable that new staff, drawn from within the department and from Government departments, had to be trained, the minister should have put the programme into effect much earlier.

“I pointed this out long before we saw pictures of the dole queues in the paper, but nothing was done until the last minute,” said Ms Enright.

Brid O’Brien, of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, said that while waiting time for jobseeker’s benefit — which is not means tested — was not long, for others who had been self-employed and who were claiming the means-tested allowance, it was causing problems.

“People who were self-employed and are not used to the system did not realise they would have to wait for benefits,” she said.

“In order to receive the means-tested payment, they have to prove they are no longer working, which means waiting for documents or accounts and demonstrating that your business is gone.”

Ms O’Brien said people were concerned about mortgages, car repayments, and the future. “People are new to the social welfare system and wondering how they are going to make ends meet,” she said.

WAITING TIMES

Tuam: 12.42 weeks

Clonakilty: 11.55

Navan: 11.59

Trim: 11.49

Ballyconnell: 10.92

Bandon: 10.14

Bagenalstown: 10.13