Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
865. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) has been left waiting several months for a decision from the appeals offices regarding their application for disability allowance; and her views on whether this is an adequate level of service from her Department. [16355/23]
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.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 21 November 2022. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were returned to the Appeals Office on 23 January 2023 and referred to an Appeals Officer on 21 February 2023. The Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned was notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision on 23 March 2023.
The current average processing time for a disability allowance appeal with the Social Welfare Appeals Office is 17.2 weeks for a summary decision. Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to improvements in the appeal process in recent years. There is active engagement between the Appeals Office and the Department to ensure that the appeals process operates efficiently and that where the Deciding Officer's decision is not revised in favour of the appellant that the appeal file papers are provided as quickly as possible to the Appeals Office for consideration by an Appeals Officer. The desire to process appeals quickly has to be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and of high quality and made in accordance with the legislative provisions and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice. Improvements in appeals processing times are a priority for the Chief Appeals Officer.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
