James Breen
Question:420 Mr. J. Breen asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action she intends to take to speed up appeals in her Department. [19285/02]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Appeals.
Every person who is dissatisfied with a decision on a claim to a social welfare payment or with certain decisions made by health boards in regard to supplementary welfare allowances has a statutory right to appeal. 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 fair consideration. While there is an inevitable time-lag in such a process, which is governed by statutory and fair procedure requirements, it is designed to enable a speedy resolution of the appeal.
Where an appeal is received, the social welfare appeals office refers the case to the deciding officer for his or her comments on the arguments made by the appellant, including any new evidence submitted. As a result of this process over one-fifth of such cases are revised in the person's favour by deciding officers, usually because new evidence became available that warrants such a revision. Some appeals may be decided by an appeals officer on the basis of the documentation presented to him or her. In a minority of cases the appeals officer may decide that an oral hearing is required before the issue can be decided.
During the three year period to 2000, the number of appeals received increased by over 25%. Notwithstanding this increase, average processing times were broadly maintained over the period at around 22 weeks. While this compares favourably with international experience in this area, the achievement of improvement is a major objective of the office. Additional resources have been assigned during the last two years to cope with the extra numbers and the number of appeals on hands has decreased from 7,537 at the start of 2000 to the present figure of about 6,800. A consultancy study of the office, which included an examination of all the processes involved in dealing with claims to the appeals stage, has recently been concluded. The report is being considered with a view to implementing proposals for improvements in the system.