Number of outstanding carer and disability allowance applications in Kilkenny revealed

Eighty-two people in Kilkenny are currently waiting for a decision to be made on their disability allowance application while forty-four are currently waiting for a decision to be made on their carer's allowance application.

These figures were released in the Dáil by Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys earlier this week following a request from Deputy Mairéad Farrell. 

Deputy Farrell asked that Minister Heather Humphreys make a statement in relation to the figures.

In her reply, the Minister stated that her Department 'is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible'.

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"The processing target for the disability allowance scheme is to award 75% of applications within 10 weeks," she said.

"The average number of weeks to award a disability allowance claim in February 2023 was 10 weeks. My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently."

Moving onto the topic of carer’s allowance, the Minister stated that 'the current waiting time for the processing of applications for carer’s allowance is six weeks'.

"The current waiting time for the processing of applications for carer’s benefit is four weeks," she added.