Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The social welfare appeals office plays a pivotal role in ensuring welfare customers have an independent review mechanism when they are dissatisfied with a decision made by my Department and want to appeal the outcome. During 2004 some 14,000 appeals were processed, 6,000 by way of oral hearing. The equivalent figures for 2005 were 13,400 and 5,600 respectively. Favourable decisions to customers were given in 2,600 cases in 2004 and 2,500 in 2005.

The social welfare appeals process is a quasi-judicial process and it is necessary for the appeals officer to be satisfied that he has all the facts before making a decision on a case. Furthermore, the appeals officer must give the person making the appeal and the deciding officer the opportunity to make their views known on the facts of the appeal. In addition, it may be necessary to have a further examination carried out by a medical assessor of my Department where illness or disability is involved.

Oral hearings are granted at the discretion of the appeals officer, usually in circumstances where there is a conflict in the evidence presented by both parties or where an oral hearing is required by the appellant in order to present his or her case. Gathering all the evidence takes time and impacts on the speed at which appeals can be decided. Given the logistics involved in organising oral hearings, the length of time for processing appeals is increased by approximately eight weeks. Some 75% of all appeals were processed within 12 weeks in 2004 and 13 weeks in 2005. On average all appeals were cleared within 20 weeks in both 2004 and 2005.

The Department introduced a right of review in 2002 to ensure customers who received adverse decisions could have them reviewed in the light of any new evidence they brought forward. Customers whose claims are disallowed or who are otherwise dissatisfied with a decision are advised they should bring any new facts or evidence to the attention of the deciding officer in the first instance for re-examination and, if appropriate, a revised decision. They are informed this right is in addition to their right of appeal. They can seek a deciding officer review before making an appeal or can do both concurrently. The right of appeal to the social welfare appeals office remains an option if the review by the deciding officer is not fruitful.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The review process is speedier than the appeals process and in 2005, 3,300 of the appeal cases were disposed of by way of review. Improving processing times remains a major objective of the social welfare appeals office. However, it is necessary at all times to ensure progress in this regard is achieved in a manner that is not in conflict with the demands of justice and the requirement that every appeal be fully investigated and examined on its merits.

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