Written answers
Thursday, 24 January 2019
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times
Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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282. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the wait time for each individual claim section for the forwarding of the file of an applicant to the social welfare appeals office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3528/19]
Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The table attached provides the appeal processing times for schemes in 2018 broken down by weeks spent in the Social Welfare Appeals Office, the Department and with the appellant.
The time taken to process an appeal reflects all aspects of the appeal process including the time spent in the Department reviewing the decision in light of the appeal contentions and/or preparing the appeal submission.
The time spent in the Department will include cases that the Department has referred back to customers for more information/clarification (rather than awaiting action in the Department).
The Department continues to work with the Social Welfare Appeals Office to reduce time in submitting appeal files and DO submissions.
Tabular statement
Appeals Processing Times by Scheme 01 January 2018 – 31 December 2018
| Scheme | SWAO (weeks) | Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (weeks) | Appellant (weeks) | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind Person’s Pension | 13.4 | 11.0 | 0.7 | 25.0 |
| Carer’s Allowance | 13.2 | 10.4 | 0.6 | 24.2 |
| Carer’s Benefit | 12.0 | 8.9 | 0.2 | 21.1 |
| Child Benefit | 17.8 | 13.3 | 0.4 | 31.5 |
| Disability Allowance | 11.4 | 5.1 | 0.5 | 16.9 |
| Illness Benefit | 15.6 | 9.4 | 0.6 | 25.6 |
| Partial Capacity Benefit | 15.6 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 26.5 |
| Domiciliary Care Allowance | 11.7 | 15.3 | 0.4 | 27.5 |
| Deserted Wife’s Allowance ** | 18.9 | 51.7 | - | 70.6 |
| Deserted Wife’s Benefit | 31.9 | 17.0 | - | 48.9 |
| Farm Assist | 28.6 | 18.9 | 0.3 | 47.8 |
| Bereavement Grant | 34.2 | 1.9 | - | 36.1 |
| Death Benefit (Pension) | 28.3 | 3.2 | - | 31.5 |
| Working Family Payment * | 16.8 | 12.8 | 0.1 | 29.6 |
| Invalidity Pension | 11.7 | 12.1 | 0.3 | 24.2 |
| Liable Relatives | 21.2 | 11.9 | - | 33.1 |
| Maternity Benefit | 17.8 | 4.4 | 0.3 | 22.5 |
| Paternity Benefit | 21.1 | 6.7 | - | 27.9 |
| One Parent Family Payment | 19.0 | 11.7 | 0.2 | 30.9 |
| State Pension (Contributory) | 17.9 | 19.4 | 0.4 | 37.7 |
| State Pension (Non-Contributory) | 18.6 | 11.7 | 0.8 | 31.1 |
| Occupational Injury Benefit | 23.3 | 7.6 | 0.4 | 31.3 |
| Disablement Pension | 19.9 | 12.1 | 0.2 | 32.2 |
| Medical Care | 12.8 | 4.7 | - | 17.5 |
| Guardian's Payment (Contributory) | 22.8 | 5.4 | 0.4 | 28.6 |
| Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory) | 16.8 | 6.5 | - | 23.3 |
| Jobseeker's Allowance (Means) | 19.1 | 14.0 | 0.3 | 33.4 |
| Jobseeker's Allowance (Payments) | 16.8 | 9.9 | 0.3 | 27.0 |
| BTW Family Dividend | 12.6 | 12.1 | - | 24.7 |
| Jobseeker's Transitional | 17.1 | 6.6 | - | 23.7 |
| Recoverable Benefits & Assistance | 12.5 | 6.3 | - | 18.8 |
| Pre-retirement Allowance | 39.8 | 7.1 | - | 47.0 |
| Jobseeker's Benefit | 15.7 | 7.4 | - | 23.2 |
| Carer’s Support Grant | 14.6 | 10.1 | 0.2 | 25.0 |
| Treatment Benefit | 0.1 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 7.8 |
| Incapacity Supplement | 22.7 | 11.5 | - | 34.2 |
| Insurability of Employment | 41.2 | 12.5 | 0.7 | 54.4 |
| Supplementary Welfare Allowance | 11.1 | 16.7 | 0.3 | 28.1 |
| Widow/Widower’s Pension (Contributory) | 18.5 | 9.4 | 0.5 | 28.5 |
| Widow/Widower’s Pension (Non-Contributory) | 16.7 | 5.7 | 0.2 | 22.6 |
| Widowed Parent Grant | 20.1 | 14.3 | - | 34.5 |
| All Appeals | 15.1 | 9.6 | 0.4 | 25.1 |
* Previously called Family Income Supplement
** Deserted Wife’s Allowance - involved one very protracted case only.
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