Written Answers. - Social Welfare Appeals.
Eamon Gilmore
Question:
123
Mr. Gilmore
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
the total number of social welfare appeals which are currently under consideration by his Department; the number of such appeals which have been submitted for more than three months, more than four months and more than six months; and the plans, if any, he has to reduce the waiting period for social welfare appeals.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office receives approximately 18,000 appeals every year. Of the appeals currently under consideration, 3,031 are on hands for more than three months, 12 weeks. Of these, a total of 2,261 were received more than four months ago and 1,026 of this number have been on hand for over six months.
Many appeals on hands for some time are cases which involve oral hearings or special investigations. They would include, also, cases where executors are contesting the recovery from deceased pensioners estates of pensions overpaid, cases where appellants are being paid but are seeking some decrease in the amount of means assessed against them and cases where the person has been found to be concurrently working and claiming benefit and is contesting the amount of the overpayment. In some cases, delay arises where oral hearings have already been arranged and adjourned at the request of the appellant or his legal representative so that further evidence might be submitted.
At the end of March 1993 there were approximately 7,570 appeals under consideration at varying stages, ranging from those recently received to those which had been the subject of necessary additional inquiries and were ready for determination. A small percentage of these cases would be appeals which had recently been determined but had yet to be recorded as being finalised.
When an appeal is received from a person dissatisfied with the initial decision of the Department of Social Welfare the grounds upon which the appeal is based are examined. This may involve a second examination by a medical referee in the case of a sickness benefit claim or a further investigation by a local officer of the Department in the case of claims under other schemes. It is often possible for the deciding officer to revise the initial decision at this stage when the additional information has been received and thus resolve the appeal speedily. Alternatively, if the facts have been fully established already and appear to be agreed in substance, the appeals officer may be in a position to make a summary determination of the appeal. In other cases, any contention may be resolved only by way of an oral hearing of the appeal.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office give priority in so far as possible to appeals where the person appealing claims to be dependent on the social welfare payment in contention. The continuing high number of people who are availing of their statutory right of appeal has resulted in some delays in processing appeals. Both the Social Welfare Appeals Office and my Department review procedures constantly to see how the administrative system can be streamlined better, be made more efficient and, at the same time, constitute an improvement in the service to customers. Examination of appeals files suggests that a significant proportion of appeals arise from a lack of awareness of the statutory conditions. A new unit has recently been established in my Department to review the entire initial decision making process, including the manner in which decisions are conveyed to applicants. I expect it to place considerable emphasis in the review on the need to observe fully the normal principles which should apply to ensure natural justice when dealing with applicants and those who appeal. This would mean dealing with applicants and those who appeal. This would mean ensuring that each customer gets as much information as possible on the reasons for the decision in his/her case, especially where a claim is being rejected in full or in part. I am confident that, in addition to improving the service to customers, this unit will do much to help reduce the incidence of appeals as customers will understand better the reasons for the decisions, especially unfavourable decisions, in their cases. In turn this should help to reduce the overall delay.
