Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2024
372. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Social Protection the current timeframe for social welfare appeals; what resources are in place to address appeals; if she will allocate extra resources to address backlogs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3915/24]
View answerThe 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 average processing times for all appeals finalised in 2023 was 16 weeks. The average time taken to process appeals which required an oral hearing was 29.2 weeks and the time to process appeals determined on a summary basis was 17.6 weeks.
Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years and 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 6 November 2023. The new system has significantly reduced the time taken to register and acknowledge appeals lodged with the Appeals Office and in time will reduce the overall average processing times. 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 matters the matter for the Deputy.
