Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
818. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of social welfare appeals lodged in each of the years 2012 to 2019 and to date in 2020; the percentage of appeals that were successful; the average waiting time in each year, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11877/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and of the Department. It is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
Appeals which had a favourable outcome for the appellant consist of appeals which were either allowed in full or in part by an Appeals Officer, or which were resolved by way of a revised decision in favour of the appellant by a Deciding Officer/Designated Person.
There are a number of reasons why a decision which was refused at first instance might be successful on appeal and it is not necessarily the case that the first decision was incorrect. It is often the case that new evidence is provided with an appeal and that, as a result, the original decision may be revised by the Deciding Officer or Designated Person. This was the case in 37.6% of such successful outcomes in 2017, 31.5% of such outcomes in 2018, 36.5% of such outcomes in 2019 and 29.2% of such outcomes to the end of May 2020.
Where the decision was not revised by the Department in light of the appeal contentions, further evidence is often provided by the appellant as the appeal process proceeds and, in addition, the Appeals Officer may gain insights when they meet the appellant in person at oral hearing which may influence the outcome of the appeal.
The time taken to process an appeal reflects a number of factors, including that the appeals process is a quasi-judicial process with Appeals Officers being required to decide all appeals on a ‘de-novo’ basis. In addition, appeals decisions are themselves subject to review by the High Court and decisions have to be formally written up to quasi-judicial standards. Other factors that influence appeals processing times include the quality of the initial decision – in this respect the Department has changed the decisions process in respect of medical schemes, in order to provide more information to the claimant. It is expected that this will help to reduce the number of appeals over time.
Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years. As a result, appeal processing times in respect of all schemes generally improved between 2012 and 2019 from 39.5 weeks for an oral hearing in 2012 to 26.9 weeks in 2019, and from 27.8 weeks for a summary decision in 2012 to 22.1 weeks in 2019.
Processing performance has in the past number of years been affected by a relatively large number of retirements in the office - although these staff have been replaced it takes time for a new Appeals Officer to reach full productivity. Nevertheless, the latest data for the period January to May 2020 shows a further improvement to 25.4 weeks for an oral hearing and 18.4 weeks for a summary decision. Additional resources have been allocated to the Appeals Office with seven additional Appeals Officers now in place compared with December 2018, and I am advised that this improvement will continue.
Finally, where a claimant has been refused a social welfare payment, regardless of the scheme involved, and is appealing that decision, if their means are insufficient to meet their needs it is open to them to apply for supplementary welfare allowance in the interim. If their application for supplementary welfare allowance is refused, they can also appeal that decision.
The statistics required by the Deputy are set out in the attached tables.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Appeal Receipts and Percentage of Favourable Decisions of Appeals Finalised 2012 – 2020
|
Appeal Receipts |
Appeals Finalised |
Favourable Decisions |
Appeals Disallowed |
Withdrawn |
|
|
2012 |
35,484 |
32,558 |
50.4% |
42.6% |
7.0% |
|
2013 |
32,777 |
38,421 |
55.0% |
39.0% |
6.0% |
|
2014 |
26,069 |
31,211 |
56.5% |
37.7% |
5.8% |
|
2015 |
24,475 |
25,406 |
58.8% |
36.1% |
5.1% |
|
2016 |
22,461 |
23,220 |
59.2% |
35.9% |
4.9% |
|
2017 |
19,658 |
18,980 |
60.1% |
33.9% |
6.0% |
|
2018 |
18,854 |
18,507 |
58.8% |
36.1% |
5.1% |
|
2019 |
22,397 |
22,572 |
56.7% |
37.5% |
5.8% |
|
2020 (to 31/05/2020 |
10,078 |
11,754 |
53.4% |
44.3% |
2.3% |
Appeal Processing Times 2012 – 2020
|
Average processing times (weeks) Summary Decisions |
Average processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings |
|
|
2012 |
27.8 |
39.5 |
|
2013 |
25.8 |
33.9 |
|
2014 |
21.1 |
28.6 |
|
2015 |
18.1 |
25.5 |
|
2016 |
17.6 |
24.1 |
|
2017 |
19.8 |
26.4 |
|
2018 |
24.8 |
30.0 |
|
2019 |
22.1 |
26.9 |
|
2020 (to 31/05/2020) |
18.4 |
25.4 |
