3-month delay for dole pay-outs

UNEMPLOYED people claiming the dole for the first time are waiting over three months in parts of the country to receive social welfare payments.

The Government was yesterday criticised over the delays in processing claims for jobseeker allowance as new figures supplied by the Department of Social and Family Affairs revealed major backlogs at social welfare offices.

People claiming unemployment benefit in Edenderry, Co Offaly, must wait 13½ weeks to have their cases processed — the longest delay anywhere in the Republic.