Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
403. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of appeals that are won on payments such as pension payments, carer’s allowance and disability and invalidity pensions; the average time for these appeals to be decided upon; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2922/22]
View answerThe 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.
Appeals which had a favourable outcome for the appellant consist of appeals which were either allowed in full or in part by an Appeals Officer, or which were resolved by way of a revised decision in favour of the appellant by a Deciding Officer/Designated Person.
There are a number of reasons why a decision which was refused at first instance might be successful on appeal and it is not necessarily the case that the first decision was incorrect. It is often the case that new evidence is provided with an appeal and that, as a result, the original decision may be revised by the Deciding Officer or Designated Person.
Where the decision was not revised by the Department in light of the appeal contentions, further evidence is often provided by the appellant as the appeal process proceeds and, in addition, the Appeals Officer may gain insights via an oral hearing which may influence the outcome of the appeal.
The time taken to process an appeal reflects a number of factors including that the appeals process is a quasi-judicial process with Appeals Officers being required to decide all appeals on a ‘de-novo’ basis. In addition, appeals decisions are themselves subject to review by the High Court and decisions have to be formally written up to quasi-judicial standards. Furthermore, a number of new Appeals Officers have joined the Appeals Office over the past 12-18 months to replace staff leaving on retirement and for other reasons. Given the complexity of the appeals process it takes some time for new staff to be trained up and develop expertise. The Chief Appeals Officer has advised me that appeal processing times continue to be a priority for her office.
The statistics required by the Deputy in relation to the percentage of appeals which had a favourable outcome for the appellant in respect of state pension (contributory), state pension (non-contributory), carer's allowance, disability allowance and invalidity pension and the average processing times for these appeals are set out in the attached tables which cover the period January - December 2021.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Appeal Outcomes 2021
|
Allowed by AO |
Part Allowed by AO |
Revised decision by DO |
Disallowed by AO |
Withdrawn |
Finalised |
|
|
Carer's Allowance |
886 (27.1%) |
95 (2.9%) |
519 (15.9%) |
1,743 (53.4%) |
24 (0.7%) |
3,267 |
|
Disability Allowance |
2,611 (46.8%) |
101 (1.8%) |
643 (11.5%) |
2,178 (39.1%) |
42 (0.8%) |
5,575 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
869 (43.3%) |
5 (0.2%) |
439 (21.9%) |
675 (33.6%) |
19 (0.9%) |
2,007 |
|
State Pension (Contributory) |
29 (8.4%) |
7 (2.0%) |
58 (16.9%) |
241 (70.1%) |
9 (2.6%) |
344 |
|
State Pension (Non-Contributory) |
51 (16.0%) |
31 (9.7%) |
56 (17.6%) |
168 (52.8%) |
12 (3.8%) |
318 |
Appeal Processing Times 2021 (Weeks)
|
Oral Hearing |
Summary Decision |
|
|
Carer's Allowance |
19.9 |
12.1 |
|
Disability Allowance |
20.2 |
12.3 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
19.4 |
14.9 |
|
State Pension (Contributory) |
27.8 |
16.8 |
|
State Pension (Non-Contributory) |
50.9 |
22.1 |
