Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)

The social welfare appeals system was established in an office of the Department that is independently responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements. The mission statement of the appeals office is to "provide an independent, accessible and fair appeals service for entitlement to social welfare payments and to deliver that service in a prompt and courteous manner". It is vital therefore, that this system maintains its functions on an independent level. As a result, the office continues to operate separately from the Department of Social Protection with separate staff preserving impartiality and objectiveness.

The appeals procedure dictates that all appeals must be made to the chief appeals officer situated at D'Olier House, within 21 days of receipt of the deciding officer's decision in any given case. Relevant documentation in respect of each individual case is then requested from the Department along with relevant facts from the deciding officer involved. The chief appeals officer then refers the case to relevant appeals officers for consideration. The case goes for either oral hearing or summary hearing.

One would assume that this process is transparent and effective however since 2009, undoubtedly as a result of the downturn in our economy, there has been an enormous increase in the number of appeals received by the Department and a significant backlog has ensued. The length of time that appellants are forced to await a decision has become critical. Details emerged from the Department in a reply to a parliamentary question tabled by my former party colleague, Deputy Broughan. According to the documentation, the average summary appeal period rose from just over 18 weeks in 2009 to more than 25 weeks last year. However, if an oral hearing was required, the average waiting time rose from 34 weeks in 2009 to more than 52 weeks last year.

In a statement to RTE, the Department of Social Protection said that between 2009 and 2011, the number of social welfare appeals had increased dramatically from 15,000 a year to 32,000, giving rise to a "catch-up" situation. To reduce the backlogs, the Department assigned 12 additional appeals officers and had retained retired appeals officers for a further 18 months. The Department also stated it was working more efficiently and finalised more than 34,000 decisions in 2011.

Before the current pressurised situation arose, the average processing time for a summary appeal was 14 weeks and 31 weeks for an oral hearing. Last year, the growing pressure increased average processing times to an unheard of 25 weeks for a summary decision and nearly 53 weeks for an oral hearing. It is placing great pressure on people and we are also finding that in cases where people have representation at oral hearings, their cases seem to be processed more quickly and in those cases the finding is more likely to be in favour of the applicant. In 2002 in Northern Ireland, 43% of applicants with representation were granted their claims compared with 25% without representation.

Apart from the inefficiency of this system, the remaining issue is that both the appeals officers and the deciding officers are required to act quasi-judicially. The question arises over just how independent this body can be. The UK appeals service ensures that tribunal members are independent of the relevant agencies against which the appeal is being made.

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