Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

My Department processes almost 2 million applications for benefit, pension or allowance each year, only a small percentage of which result in an appeal to the social welfare appeals office. A claimant who is dissatisfied with the decision of a deciding officer of the Department, including a decision based on medical criteria, may appeal it to the social welfare appeals office. In addition to affording customers the right of appeal, all customers who receive an adverse decision are advised of their right to have their claim reviewed by a deciding officer where new facts or fresh evidence come to light. These procedures can enable a speedy resolution of the appeal as the deciding officer may make a revised decision on foot of the new evidence received without the necessity to go through the appeals mechanism.

Confirmation of medical eligibility is critical in processing and maintaining illness benefit, invalidity pension, disability allowance, occupational injuries benefit and carers schemes. Figures for 2007, the latest year for which appeals statistics are available, show that 7,400 appeals were lodged regarding these schemes, although some of these may have related to non-medical conditions. It should be noted that this represents only a proportion of cases disallowed as many people do not appeal adverse decisions. Of the 7,400 appeals, almost 2,400 were revised by a deciding officer before proceeding to appeal. In many of these cases, the claimant had obtained additional medical evidence from his or her GP or consultant which formed the basis for a revised decision. In the balance of cases, almost 5,000, appeals were allowed in 1,767 cases, 147 appeals were partially allowed, 1,907 appeals were disallowed and 1,222 were withdrawn.

In cases which proceed to the social welfare appeals office where medical issues are involved, appeals officers, as well as taking account of reports from medical assessors of the Department, must also take account of medical reports furnished by the appellant and any other evidence, including evidence adduced at an oral hearing where appellants have the opportunity to explain how they are affected by their condition.

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