Faster approvals in just 90 days, Deputy Minister reveals

The average processing time for the guaranteed minimum income (GMI) applications has been reduced by 75%, from 12 months to 90 days, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Marilena Evangelou, said during a press conference on the modernisation and upgrade of the GMI.

Evangelou noted that the implementation of the modernisation and upgrade of the GMI allowance, concerns three parameters; effectively dealing with delays in the examination of applications, immediate termination of the allowance where fraud or an attempt to defraud the system is detected, and the social integration and inclusion of all beneficiaries of the GMI through their inclusion in the labour market, or with education and training programmes, or with psychosocial support programmes.

Evangelou said that within these 10 months - since the new Government assumed duties – they have managed to significantly reduce the average time for examining applications to 90 days, noting that it used to take 12 or even 24 months to examine an application. She pointed out that the average examination time has been reduced by 75%. The Deputy Minister noted that the next goal was to reduce it to 60 days within this year.

The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare pointed out that the team carrying out checks has been strengthened since July 2023 and carried out a total of 303 targeted checks by the end of December, resulting in 204 GMI allowance terminations. The annual savings from the 204 cases terminated amounts to €1.7 million, she added.

Evangelou said that a decade since the GMI was introduced, there was an urgent need to modernise and upgrade it in response primarily to citizens’ needs, but also in line with the recommendations of the EU. She said that the process continues so that the GMI will continue to function as a social safety net, remain effective and respond adequately and in a timely manner to those who truly need it.