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Social Welfare Appeals Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 February 2019

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

Ceisteanna (723)

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

723. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 1113 of 15 January 2019, the steps she will take to reduce the number of incorrect decisions made by deciding officers when examining carer's allowance, disability allowance and domiciliary care allowance applications that necessitate appeals and prolong financial hardship for vulnerable applicants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6665/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Deciding Officers (DOs) are appointed under social welfare legislation to decide, among other things, whether a person is eligible to receive a social welfare payment or not. They make these decisions based on the evidence available to them at the time.

If a person is not satisfied with the decision of a DO, they can appeal that decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.

It is absolutely not the case that all successful appeals are as a result of an incorrect decision by a DO. In most cases, additional evidence may be made available to the Appeals Officer (AO) which was not available to the DO, or the appellant's circumstances may have changed since the DO made their decision.

This is especially true in the schemes that have a condition relating to disability or care requirements.

Work is ongoing within my Department on a number of fronts aimed at improving the quality of first-instance decision making, reducing the number of appeals being received and reducing the time taken within my Department to prepare the appeal submission. These include:

- Better information gathering at initial claim stage which leads to better decisions.

- Better explanation of the reasons for any decision in order to make it easier for customers to understand decisions and reduce unnecessary appeals.

- A significant programme of training for decision makers on all aspects of their decision making function.

- Social welfare forms are constantly being monitored to ensure that they capture the necessary information at claim stage.

- Significant resources have also been directed towards the training of deciding officers and appeals officers which, it is hoped, will reduce the number of appeals being received and will also impact positively on appeal processing times.

Finally, any person who experiences financial difficulties while awaiting a decision on an application or an appeal should contact their local Intreo Centre to see if they may be entitled to a means-tested supplementary welfare allowance payment.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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