Kells now has longest wait times for dole payments

Kells has the longest waiting times for jobseekers" allowance in the country, according to the latest figures from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. New dole applicants in the town have to wait 16 weeks before they receive their allowances, prompting calls on the Government to provide more manpower to deal with the problem in the town. The Kells Mayor, Cllr Brian Collins, said it was unfortunate that Kells was now top of a very negative league and he called for extra resources to deal with the lengthy delays. He suggested some of the surplus staff within the public service in Dublin be transferred to the social welfare office in Kells. Cllr Collins said that the danger of leaving people without any income for any length of time was that it could lead them into the hands of moneylenders. He urged anyone who was in such difficulties to contact the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) straight away. Cllr Bryan Reilly said it was unfortunate that people had to apply for these payments in the first place, but he said it was up to the Government to provide sufficient staff to deal with the situation. 'People who are laid off need money and they need it now,' he said. Cllr Reilly said it wasn"t the fault of the staff of the social welfare office in Kells, the situation arose simply because they hadn"t enough manpower. He called on the Government to ensure adequate staff were put in place. Cllr Conor Ferguson said providing more staff for the social welfare office in Kells should be a priority. He said it was bad enough people losing their jobs without having to worry about where their next meal was coming from because they aren"t receiving any payments. Cllr Ferguson said the Government should look at reintroducing community employment schemes to get rid of the degrading practice of people standing outside dole offices in queues. Cllr Tommy Grimes said people have to wait up to three hours to see someone just to apply for social welfare and they must actually get a note from a social welfare officer before they can apply for a supplementary payment from the HSE until their jobseekers" payments are processed. He called on the Government to move personnel from the city to Kells to help clear up the backlog.