Bernard Durkan
Question:258. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent, if any, to which time taken to determine appeals can be improved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54424/23]
View answerThursday, 7 December 2023
Questions (258)
Written answers
The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision-making functions.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that significant efforts and resources have been devoted to improvements in the appeal process in recent years. As a result average appeal processing times have generally improved between 2018 and 2022 from 30.0 weeks for an oral hearing in 2018 to 26.0 weeks in 2022, and from 24.8 weeks for a summary decision in 2018 to 15.0 weeks in 2022. The average time for all appeals finalised in 2022 was 14.9 weeks.
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.
In any year about 85% of all claims are awarded by the Department and approximately 1% of all decisions are appealed. The Department endeavours to ensure that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible. 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.
Further improvements in appeals processing times are a priority for the Chief Appeals Officer. A significant Appeals Modernisation Project is currently underway the goal of which is to streamline and enhance the end-to-end appeals process for the customer, the Social Welfare Appeals Office and business areas across the Department. As part of this project a new IT system went live on the 6th November 2023. The new system will significantly reduce the time taken to register and acknowledge appeals lodged with the Appeals Office. Additional staff were assigned to the office as part of the project to assist with the preparation for and transition to the new IT system and the establishment of new procedures.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.