Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the officials from for coming to this meeting. I appreciate the presentation they have made and the excellent quality of their answers to our questions. We do not always have that level of insight and openness from delegates. The level of detail provided can sometimes be a little skimpy, but it has been helpful today. I acknowledge the importance of the work of the appeals officers which has a significant impact on people's lives. It must also be acknowledged that the number of finalised cases has increased by 140% since the middle of the last decade. That is important.

Like other members, I encounter a substantial volume of people at my clinics and in my office who are frustrated by the delays they encounter as they use the system. Perhaps this problem is not mentioned in the media as much as one might expect. The people who are using the system are isolated, rather than being part of a collective group. Approximately 60% of those who use the SUSI system are in the appeals system. We have heard a great deal about SUSI, but we do not hear as much about the long delays encountered by many people after they have been dealt with in the SUSI system. There is a sense of isolation among the users of the system.

It has been suggested there is not necessarily a problem with the local offices. Can we get a county-by-county breakdown of waiting times? If the waiting times of applicants in some counties are much higher than the national average, is a system in place to flag the problem and tackle the issues in question?

I understand that when payments are reviewed and stopped, priority is given to cases involving disability and invalidity payments in order that they can be reviewed as quickly as possible. Is that accurate? If it is, would it be possible for that approach be extended to all payments? In that context, I would like to mention an issue I have come across in my office. If a person whose payment has been stopped pending a review decides to submit an appeal, he or she has to wait a long time, which is a difficulty. The officials might be able to clarify the matter and give me a little more information on it.

The arms of the State need to be responsive to the needs of citizens. When people need the State to step in and assist them, they expect it to respond and help within a reasonable timeframe. The impact that a shock event such as illness, an accident or the loss of one's job can have on a person's life should never be underestimated. That is bad enough, but it is very difficult for people to have to wait for the best part of a year for assistance. It is not good enough for citizens who have worked hard and paid taxes for all their lives - honest people who have always done everything by the book and tried to do the best they can - to be refused something they believe they are entitled to and then have to wait a long time for State assistance.

Has the social welfare appeals office made projections for reductions in appeal times for the years beyond 2013? While I acknowledge the work done to date, I emphasise that we need to reduce these waiting times further because they are far too long. We need to ensure the system is as efficient and as responsive to users' needs as possible. I would be interested to find out more about the projections for 2014. Are there ambitious targets for that year and the years beyond it?