Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 6 reads:

In page 14, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:“9. Section 311 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) (a) An appeals officer shall decide an appeal within a prescribed time of 60 working days from the date of receipt of the appeal.

(b) Where notice of a decision under section 311 is not given to the appellant who made the appeal concerned before the expiration of the period specified in section 311(4)(a), a decision upholding the appeal shall be deemed to have been made upon such expiration.

(c) An appeals officer may apply to the Chief Appeals Officer for an extension of time to consider the appeal in exceptional circumstances but the appeals officer must demonstrate the reasons for the delay and the appellant shall be informed of the reasons for

the delay in writing.”.

This amendment seeks to achieve the same objective as amendment No. 3

Those who apply for invalidity pensions are usually in pretty dire conditions. I have a number on my files who, despite various medical ailments which I will not go into, have been refused invalidity pensions on the basis that they are not sick enough. People who apply for disability or carer's allowances are finding initial applications can take up to a year. I know of cases which took more than a year.

In a reply to a recent parliamentary question the Minister said an appeal for an invalidity pension, disability allowance or carer's allowance decision will take about nine months. That is without an oral hearing. If there is an oral hearing it could take longer. We are talking about average times; some cases could take longer. Somebody caring for a very ill relative who applies for carer's allowance, fails and has to appeal could be waiting for two years or more. That is not acceptable. The same applies to invalidity pensions and disability allowance.

The Minister has taken some steps, as has been said, to reduce the time within which appeals can take place, but unfortunately it always seems to creep up again. My experience is that the waiting times are now the same, if not worse, than before. My amendment is simple, namely, that the chief appeals office has 60 working days, or 12 weeks, to decide on an appeal. If it cannot decide on an appeal within that period the appeal will be deemed to have been successful.

I recognise that there can be exceptional circumstances or peculiar situations where, for one reason or another, an appeal cannot be decided within that timescale, and I am providing for that. An appeals officer can apply to the chief appeals officer for an extension of time, but he or she must demonstrate the reasons for the delay and the applicant must be informed of the reasons for the delay in writing. That is a perfectly reasonable amendment.

People waiting for decisions on carer's allowance, invalidity pensions and disability allowances have already spent quite a long period waiting for an initial decision. They face the prospect of waiting nine months or more for an appeal, or longer if the case has to go to an oral hearing. Increasingly we advise people to go to an oral hearing when they appeal because their chances of success increase by about 50% or 60%.

At the time of the first Croke Park agreement I recall one of its kernel parts was mobility of staff between departments. Staff from FÁS have gone into the Department of Social Protection. Community welfare officers do their jobs, as do FÁS staff. There is an appalling lack of staff in local offices in Limerick and Ennis which is causing great hardship. I am not trying to make a political point.

I spoke to a number of social welfare officers today. The absence of staff is leading to untold misery among some of the most vulnerable people in my constituency and surrounding areas. Excluding those who are on activation schemes in FÁS and community welfare officers who are doing the job they did when they were under the aegis of the HSE, how many new staff have been redeployed to the Department of Social Protection?

Without wanting to be insulting or condescending in any way to the public service, I was a Minister in a number of different Departments and know staff in many Departments are not exactly overworked. How many staff have been deployed to man the offices? Limerick has a major regional office. What additional complement of staff has been provided as unemployment has risen? Has the level of staff kept pace with demand? The delays would certainly suggest otherwise.

The Minister has put some extra people into the appeals office and perhaps she can clarify whether there are plans to put in more. What plans does she have to redeploy people to local social welfare offices so that people who are ill enough to have to look for invalidity pension or disability allowances, or whose circumstances warrant them receiving carer's allowance, will not have to wait for an unconscionable period, as they are now?

See this speech in context