The 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 Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that significant efforts and resources have been devoted to improvements in the appeal process in recent years. As a result, average appeal processing times have generally improved between 2018 and 2022 from 30.0 weeks for an oral hearing in 2018 to 26.0 weeks in 2022, and from 24.8 weeks for a summary decision in 2018 to 15.0 weeks in 2022. The average time for all appeals finalised in 2022 was 14.9 weeks.
There is active engagement between the Appeals Office and the Department to ensure that the appeals process operates efficiently and that where the Deciding Officer's decision is not revised in favour of the appellant that the appeal file papers are provided as quickly as possible to the Appeals Office for consideration by an Appeals Officer. There are currently 44 Appeals Officers assigned to the Appeals Office. Further improvements in appeals processing times are a priority for the Chief Appeals Officer.
The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants.
All of the relevant circumstances of the case are taken into consideration by an officer of the community welfare service when deciding the level of support required. The decision process involves consideration of the nature of the need presented and the ability of the person and their household to meet that need. This entails an assessment of an applicant’s weekly household income, their savings and investments, their outgoings and the type of assistance needed.
The average processing times in 2022 for Disability Allowance and Carers Allowance appeals are set out in the table below.
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Disability Allowance
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Average processing time 2022
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Oral Hearing
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21.9 weeks
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Summary Decision
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12.1 weeks
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Carers Allowance
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Average Processing times 2022
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Oral Hearing
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18.5 weeks
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Summary Decision
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12.2 weeks
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I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
