Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 13 Dec 2001

Vol. 546 No. 5

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Appeals.

Pádraic McCormack

Question:

208 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the length of time applicants have to wait to have their oral hearing heard in relation to social welfare appeals in the Galway area, particularly appeals that are going to oral hearing; the frequency of visits by the appeals officer to Galway; the number of cases the appeals officer deals with when he goes to Galway; the number of days they sit in Galway; when the next visit by the appeals officer will be to Galway to conduct oral hearings; and the length of time applicants are waiting to have their appeals heard in the Galway area. [32426/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

Figures are not readily available on the time taken to process appeals in the Galway area. The average time taken to dispose of all appeals dealt with by the social welfare appeals office is 22 weeks. Appeals which can be determined by appeals officers on the basis of the documentary evidence or by way of a revised decision by the deciding officer would be cleared more speedily but those where an oral hearing is required to resolve elements of conflict would be above the average figure. It is not expected cases in County Galway would vary much from the national figure. The social welfare appeals system is a quasi-judicial one and the procedures involved are designed to ensure that every appellant's case gets full and satisfactory consideration. There is an inevitable time-lag in such a process which is governed by statutory and fair procedure requirements.

Average appeal processing times have been broadly maintained during recent years. While processing times in the social welfare appeals office compare favourably with international experience in this area, the achievement of improvements in processing times is a major objective of the office. It is necessary to ensure that progress in this regard is achieved in a manner that is not in conflict with, or at a cost to, the demands of justice and the requirement that every appeal be fully investigated and examined on all its merits.

Appeals officers have held hearings in County Galway for all or part of 60 days during 17 weeks this year. Appeals officers deal with the full range of social welfare questions including unemployment, incapacity, insurability, disability, old age and carers' needs. Some are more complex than others and the number of cases dealt with in any session would have regard to the issues arising. The oral hearing process is designed to ensure that the appellant fully understands the question for determination, that he or she is afforded every opportunity to question the basis of the decision and to present his or her appeal fully.

During the 60 days on which oral hearings were held in County Galway, a total of 363 cases were scheduled. The next occasion on which an appeals officer is scheduled to be in Galway is during the week commencing 14 January 2002.

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

The person concerned applied for both invalidity pension and disability allowance from my Department. While he satisfies the medical eligibility criteria for both schemes, in the case of his invalidity pension application, he does not satisfy the prescribed PRSI conditions for receipt of payment. In the case of his disability allowance application, his means, which are derived from his spouse's earnings, are in excess of the statutory limit.

Accordingly he was refused entitlement to either payment and was duly notified of these decisions. He subsequently appealed these decisions to the social welfare appeals office but his appeals were unsuccessful.

Under social welfare legislation, decisions in relation to claims must be made by deciding officers and appeal officers. I would like to emphasise that these officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in making such decisions.

The issue as to whether self-employed people should have access to payments, such as invalidity pension in respect of long-term incapacity, has been raised in the context of this case. Any extension of invalidity pension or other benefits to self-employed contributors would have major financial implications and would require substantial changes in the social insurance arrangements generally for the self-employed.