Local welfare office closes to deal with backlog

The Social Welfare Office in Letterkenny, Co Donegal has closed its doors today in a bid to tackle a backlog in the number of people signing on.

There are 700 outstanding applications and 100 applications awaiting clearance.

Six hundred and fifty of the applicants are seeking job seeker's payments.

Office Manager Kieran Corry has said they will work overtime tomorrow in a bid to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.

"I’m working in Social Welfare a long time and I have never felt the need to close an office," he said today.

"The influx has been so steady over the summer period we just haven’t been able to clear the backlog."