Mr. John McKeon:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for inviting us here today to discuss the draft regulations relating to the operation of the social welfare appeals office. I am joined by Mr. Brian Molloy, who has recently taken up the role of Chief Appeals Officer in succession to Ms Joan Gordon who the committee met last November and who has now retired following a long career of public service. When we met on 9 November, Joan and I summarised the key points and set out the background to the proposed changes in the regulations. We also indicated that the draft regulations had not been finalised but were with the Minister for her consideration and, given they had not been finalised, that we would welcome observations and comments from committee members. In the interest of saving time I do not propose to repeat this summary in full or to set out the background in further detail but, with the permission of the Chair, I may rely on the opening statement from the 9 November, a copy of which we submitted to committee members for their convenience.

However, I wish to repeat and emphasise the point I made in November that in developing these draft regulations the Department, working with the Chief Appeals Officer, is concerned to preserve the independent administrative nature of the appeals decision making process, to ensure that it does not become overly legalised or unnecessarily adversarial but instead, as far as possible and in the interests of clients, to ensure that it is simple, informal and speedy, as emphasised by the Commission on Social Welfare. Towards this end the draft regulations restate and emphasise the de novoapproach provided for in the governing legislation. They also provide additional rights to appellants and impose a greater responsibility on the appeals office and the Department to meet publicly committed and legislatively required timelines.

These measures are intended to improve customer service, reduce appeals processing times and provide greater transparency both with regard to the appeals process itself and to ensuring appellants have a clear understanding of the reasons for appeals officers' decisions. While acknowledging that some of the improvements proposed, for example the facility to request an oral hearing, are already a feature of general practice within the appeals office, they are not guaranteed to appellants as a matter of law. The intention of these regulations is to remedy this situation and provide for additional rights over and above those already a feature of general practice. It is worth reiterating that none of the changes reduce in any way the independence of the appeals decision-making function. As I highlighted in November, appeals officers, like deciding officers, act independently in their decision-making function and cannot be directed as to the decision that they are required to take.

The regulations also provide for additional management oversight and reporting responsibility for the Chief Appeals Officer, including in relation to quality assurance and the provision of feedback to the Department. A key purpose of these measures is to improve the quality both of appeals decisions and of first instance decisions by deciding officers and reflects recommendations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The introduction of these additional rights and management processes will, of course, require some changes in processes, systems and work practices for the staff of the Department and the appeals office. The Department and the Chief Appeals Officer fully understand the changes required, and we can assure the committee that we will undertake the necessary programme of change and will continue to engage with staff and their representatives through the normal employee relations processes and frameworks.

At the meeting on 9 November, the committee Chair inquired as to whether the committee could have sight of the draft regulations prior to their finalisation. In response I indicated my understanding that it was not normal practice, nor was it provided for in standing orders for Oireachtas committees to have a role in reviewing ministerial regulations but, subject to not offending any procedural rules, that the Department had no difficulty in sharing the draft regulations and neither did I believe that the Minister would have any such difficulty. I am pleased therefore, and having consulted with the Minister, that we were able to share the draft regulations with you and that we now have the opportunity to discuss them in some more detail. We very much welcome any observations or recommendations committee members may have either here today or by way of a later submission or report to the Minister. In parallel and for information of the committee, the Department has published the draft regulations a week or two ago for public consultation and has notified the various advocacy groups who have an interest in these matters seeking their input and observations.

It may be of value, subject to the guidance of the Chair and agreement of the committee, for Mr. Molloy and I to talk through each of the changes to the regulation that are of interest to the committee, using the tabular comparison sent to the committee last week. If this is acceptable to the committee Mr. Molloy and I will be pleased to take any questions that members may have as we work through the table. We are of course at the disposal of the committee if it wishes to take an alternative approach.