I propose to take Questions Nos. 371 to 375, inclusive, together.
Child benefit section received over 90,000 new applications in 2007 for some 113,000 children of which some 65,000 were for children born in Ireland. The target time for processing of Irish-born child benefit applications is 90% of claims within two weeks of receipt.
Claims for Irish-born children are processed in an automated or semi-automated manner — using data received electronically from the General Registrars Office. As a result, this target is regularly met for Irish-born children. Childcare Supplement is paid automatically when Child Benefit is awarded and some 65,000 Irish-born children were paid in this manner in 2007.
Approximately 13,000 claims that were received before April 2007 are at various stages of processing. Almost all these claims relate to foreign nationals and are to be decided under EU regulations. Approximately 80% of the claims are from Polish nationals and the balance is comprised largely of persons from the other accession states.
In total, some 30,000 claims are on hand to be finalised. Of these, approximately 20,000 relate to claims for non-resident children under EU regulations. The balance relate mainly to non-Irish nationals, resident in Ireland with their families. These customers must satisfy the habitual residency test to qualify for payment. This involves the completion of an enquiry form, and checks regarding the customer's employment, the family's residency status and other circumstances. These checks can take some time to complete. Of the 30,000 claims on hand, some 50% have been partly processed and are awaiting further information from either the customer or the authorities in the claimant's home country to allow them to be finalised.
There are currently 96 permanent and 10 temporary staff working in the child benefit section. The temporary staff have been employed since September 2007 specifically to deal with arrears of claims from non-Irish nationals. A review of processes in the section has recently been concluded and further additional resources are being assigned, bringing the staffing level including both permanent and temporary staff to 115.
The increase in staff numbers, coupled with the use of extensive overtime and the implementation of a number of other process improvements, will result in an improvement in processing time and a reduction in the numbers of claims on hand during 2008.