Almost 13,000 appeals were dealt with at the social welfare appeals office in 1997. The average time taken to process all appeals was 22 weeks.
There are 5,491 appeals on which work is in progress. These include cases at all stages of the appeals process, including those which have been heard and decisions are about to be notified, those under investigation in the Department following submission of the grounds of appeal, those awaiting attention by appeals officers and those awaiting further information from appellants.
The social welfare appeals system is quasi-judicial and the procedures are designed to ensure every appeal receives full and adequate consideration. There is an inevitable timelag in such a process. In some cases an additional delay may arise because of difficulty in obtaining all the information required by the appeals officer. In some cases appeals can be dealt with on the basis of information supplied by the appellant and the deciding officer without recourse to an oral hearing and these take less than the average time. Where an oral hearing is required, however, an additional delay is inevitable.
Four additional appeals officers were appointed during the second half of 1997 and this has brought about an improvement in the processing times for appeals so far this year. The average time taken is now 21 weeks.
The provision of a prompt service is a major objective of the social welfare appeals office. At all times it is necessary to ensure progress is achieved in a manner consistent with the demands of justice and the requirement that every appeal is fully investigated and examined on all its merits.