Thousands of people suffocating economically due to delays in the payment of benefits and pensions

Statement by AKEL MP Andros Kafkalias and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance Committee

1 February 2022

The government’s inability to provide a solution to the huge problem of the delays observed in the payment of benefits and pensions by the Social Insurance Fund (TKA) is suffocating thousands of our fellow citizens economically.

Unemployed people, sick people, young mothers and pensioners, remain for months without income, without means of subsistence, since the allowances and pensions to which they are entitled to are not paid to them at the time they are due.

Unfortunately, apart from admitting the magnitude of the problem and expressing the belief that the problem will be solved when and provided that the computerisation of applications is advanced, the government has done nothing substantive to solve the actual problem.

The advance payment of a minimum amount to beneficiaries of allowances and pensions, the operation of a special framework for coronavirus-related sickness benefits to decongest the system, the simplification of procedures, the strengthening of the service with more staff, the operation of an efficient call centre and the improvement of the procedure for sending-confirming the receipt of applications are just some of the proposals we put forward for an immediate solution to the problem.

We call on the Government to realize the magnitude of the problem, to finally respect human dignity and provide solutions.