Vol. 404 No. 5
15 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Welfare the average waiting period for an oral hearing in respect of a claim for disability benefit; if he intends to take any steps to speed up the hearing of such appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The 1990 Social Welfare Act provided for the setting up of a separate independent social welfare appeals office. The Act provides that appeals will in future be made directly to the director and chief appeals officer. In practice, this will mean that the appellant will be in touch with the appeals office from the point at which the appeal is made up to the time the decision issues. In establishing the social welfare appeals office it was my intention to retain and build on the strengths of the former system and to increase client confidence in the appeals process.
With the opening of their new headquarters on 21 September 1990 the appeals office began to put new measures into effect. The administration of appeals relating to disability benefits, occupational injuries benefits and those relating to unemployment claims in the Dublin area were initially brought under their direct control and appeals relating to other social welfare services were made the subject of the new procedure over the following weeks. This enabled me to bring the new statutory provisions into effect from 1 January 1991.
The procedures for dealing with all appeals are now being examined with a view to reducing the interval between the lodgement of an appeal and the oral hearing. Information is not maintained at present in a way that would enable an average figure of the time taken to process appeals to be determined. The chief appeals officer is obliged by law to submit an annual report to me on the activities of the office and I understand that the question of possible delays is to be examined and reported on in that context.
I am confident that within a short space of time the new appeals office will improve the service and show it to be independent, consistent and efficient.
17 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will examine the possibility of changing the regulations in respect of the free electricity allowance with particular reference to persons being obliged to live on their own; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The free electricity scheme provides an amount of free electricity to certain pensioners who are incapacitated or aged 60 or over. In 1990 I introduced an extension of the scheme where persons over 80 years of age who are entitled to the allowance may retain their entitlement when a person comes to live with them.
