Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:415. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for the conclusion of appeals against the refusal of disability allowance. [50806/13]
View answerTuesday, 26 November 2013
Questions (415)
Written answers
I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the current average time taken to process disability allowance appeals decided by summary decision is 29.7 weeks and 38.3 weeks for those requiring an oral hearing.
There has been a rapid and sustained increase in the number of appeals received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office since 2009 which has placed extraordinary pressure on the office. Up to 2009, the average number of appeals received was 15,000 per annum whereas in 2012, the office received 35,484 appeals. In order to manage this increasing workload, significant resources and efforts have been put into reducing backlogs and improving appeals processing times for appellants, including the assignment of 15 additional Appeals Officers, in addition to 10 former Community Welfare Service Appeals Officers who joined the appeals office in 2011, bringing the total number of serving Appeals Officers to 41; reviewing and improving business processes; and implementing a new operating model within the appeals office.
In addition, a major programme of process redesign and modernisation is underway in the Department in relation to many of its scheme areas, aimed at reducing backlogs and reducing the time taken by the Department to respond to requests from the appeals office for submissions in relation to appeals.
These measures have led to improvements in processing times and a significant increase in the number of appeals finalised from 17,787 in 2009 to 32,558 in 2012. The Chief Appeals Officer expects to finalise 6,000 more cases in 2013 than in 2012. Good progress is also now being made in reducing the number of appeals on hand from 20,414 at 1 January 2013 to 16,087 at 18 November 2013. In 2010 the average processing time for a disability allowance oral hearing was 51.1 weeks while a decision requiring a summary decision took an average of 30.8 weeks. This had improved to 40.6 and 34.2 weeks respectively in 2012 and has further improved (up to October 2013) to 38.3 and 29.7 weeks respectively.
Appeal processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation. They include all activities during this period including time spent awaiting any clarification from the appellant, time in the Department for comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal put forward by the appellant, and any further investigation, examination or assessment by the Department’s Inspectors and Medical Assessors that is deemed necessary. A considerable period of time is added to the process when an oral hearing is required because of the logistics involved in this process. While this process carries an inherent delay in terms of finalising an appeal, it also crystallises the flexibility and accessibility of the appeals system.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
Questions Nos. 416 and 417 withdrawn.