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Pension Provisions

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 May 2012

Thursday, 17 May 2012

Ceisteanna (82, 83)

Jim Daly

Ceist:

83 Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether 52 weeks is a satisfactory time to wait for a decision on an appeal for a contributory pension in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24720/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that in this case the claim to state pension (contributory) was disallowed as the person concerned did not fulfil the statutory contribution conditions for the scheme. The person applied to the Scope section of the Department for a decision regarding the insurability of her employment on the family farm on the basis she was in a business partnership with her spouse in running the farm. A Deciding Officer in Scope section decided that a partnership existed and Class S should be applied to income from this enterprise provided her total reckonable income was €3,174 or more in a year. This ruling applied to the period 6 April 1988 to September 2010 when the person became 66 years of age.

However, on checking the department's records it transpired that there had been no income from the farm between 1988 and 2001, all income declared by her spouse to Revenue was for fishing.

As a result of a further request as to whether a partnership existed in the fishing enterprise it was decided by Scope that a business partnership did not exist and that she was not insurable in this enterprise under the social welfare acts.

This decision is now under appeal and because of the complexity of the issues involved the Appeals Officer has decided to hold an oral hearing in the matter. It is hoped to arrange that hearing shortly and Appeals Office will be in touch with the person with regard to the arrangements as soon as possible.

There has been a very significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office since 2007 when the intake was 14,070 to 2010 and 2011 when the intake rose to 32,432 and 31,241 respectively and these increases have impacted hugely on the processing times for appeals.

In an effort to reduce the processing times, the Department appointed 12 additional Appeals Officers since between 2010 and 2011. In addition, a further 10 Appeals Officers, formerly employed by the Community Welfare Service (CWS) of the Health Services Executive joined the Office as part of the integration of the CWS appeals services into the Social Welfare Appeals Office. This brought the total number of Appeals Officers to 39. In addition to this, the Office has improved its business processes and IT support.

As a result of these measures, the average waiting time for appeals dealt with by summary decisions in the first quarter of 2012 was 22.4 weeks, and 40.9 weeks for those that required an oral hearing. The comparable times for 2011 were 25 weeks and 52.5 weeks respectively.

I am assured by the Chief Appeals Officer that she is keeping the methods of operation by which the Social Welfare Appeals Office conducts its business under constant review, and that the processes are continuously being enhanced to reduce the backlogs in the Office and, overall, to reduce the processing times for dealing with appeals.

Joanna Tuffy

Ceist:

84 Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the pension scheme gratuity payment for community employment supervisors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24744/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

I would refer the Deputy to my reply to question number 686 on 18 April 2012. The position remains unchanged.

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