One in six waiting on dole decision

ONE in six people on the live register are in limbo regarding dole entitlements because of delays processing their claims.

Yesterday’s live register figures revealed 11.9% of adults cannot find a job, and showed one in 33 people in the labour force are unemployed and waiting for social welfare applications to be approved.

The problem varies across the country, but is worst in Cork, where 11,617 people were hanging on decisions on the week ending June 20.

In the city, the problem has become more pronounced in the past month. Despite the allocation of additional staff, 6,421 were awaiting decisions on June 20, compared with 6,080 three weeks earlier.

On average, they are waiting between eight and nine weeks to get their first payment and have to apply for a supplementary welfare allowance in the meantime. However, problems with overburdened Community Welfare Offices have created another layer of backlog.

Fine Gael deputy Simon Coveney said it was unacceptable for people to be waiting so long without their entitlements.

He said people were being expected to live with their commitments after losing their job and they are not getting the type of “emergency response” required.

Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin said since last year 300 staff had been redeployed to help process claims.

The most recent comprehensive list for every social welfare office in the country on May 30 put the overall figure at 70,362 unprocessed applicants nationwide.

Of those, 43,926 had applied for jobseekers allowance and 26,437 were looking for jobseekers benefit. These are listed on the live register even though their claims have not been finalised.

Those looking for jobseekers’ benefit have lost their job and have enough PRSI payments clocked up to claim maximum welfare. Jobseeker’s allowance is for those without the necessary PRSI points or whose benefit period has expired.