Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 May 2017
171. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which staff can be redeployed within his Department to deal expeditiously with the appeals backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26241/17]
View answerMy Department, like all Government departments and agencies is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget, which for this Department has involved reductions in staff.
The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to new increasing demands in a wide range of services. This is to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department.
The overall average processing time, across all schemes, for appeals requiring an oral hearing reduced from 52.5 weeks in 2011 to 25.5 weeks in 2015, 24.1 weeks in 2016 and 24.4 weeks to date in 2017. The overall average time taken to finalise appeals decided by way of a summary decision has also improved in recent years from a peak of 25.1 weeks in 2011 to 18.1 weeks in 2015, 17.6 weeks in 2016 and 18.1 weeks to date in 2017.
The quasi-judicial nature of the appeals system means that there are inevitable time-lags involved. The time taken is proportionate to the complexity of many of the issues under appeal which require a high level of judgement, and the need to ensure due process and natural justice.
Appeal processing times are kept under constant scrutiny by the Chief Appeals Officer. The Deputy will be aware that significant effort and resources have been devoted in recent years to reducing the length of the time taken to finalise an appeal and that as a consequence processing times have improved quite considerably.
