The Government is failing to deal with processing times for jobseeker claimants, it was claimed today.
Figures released this week reveal the average processing time for Jobseeker Allowance claims is six weeks, with the worst-performing offices taking as long as 13.5 weeks to process such claims, with Edenderry, Co Offaly; Rathdowney, Co Laois, and Bandon, Co Cork, registering the worst times.
The figures refer to January, before the Civil and Public Services Union strike against the Government's pension levy and before an additional 26,576 Jobseekers signed on in February.
Commenting on the figures, Labour TD Roisin Shortall, spokeswoman on social and family affairs, said the waiting times were "unacceptable".
"The Minister [Mary Hanafin] has made efforts in recent months to recruit more staff but it simply does not go far enough," she said.
"One of the key problems is that there are two types of social welfare office - a local office and a branch office. The local offices are run directly by the Department of Social & Family Affairs and staffing levels can be controlled by the Department and moved around to meet the areas of greatest demand.
"Branch offices, which are mainly located outside the Cities and large towns, are run by private individuals who are contracted by the Department. At branch offices, the local branch manager determines staffing levels," she said, adding it was not clear how many, if any, extra staff have been employed by branch managers," Ms Shorthall said.
"The bottom line is that 17 social welfare offices have processing times of more than two months, and 15 of these are branch offices. Either the Minister is not supporting branch offices enough, or the branch managers themselves are not employing enough staff. There has to be a serious question mark over whether this system is working."
Ms Shortall, who obtained the figures, said it was up to the Minister to ensure jobseekers could expect to claims dealt with speedily at his/her local office.