Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All decisions taken by my Department's deciding officers and designated persons are appealable to the chief appeals officer. Approximately 85% of all claims are awarded in the first instance and just 1% are appealed annually. Nevertheless, my Department is concerned that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible.

Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years. As a result, appeal processing times improved from 52.5 weeks for an oral hearing in 2011 to 26.4 weeks in 2017 and from 25.1 weeks for a summary decision in 2011 to 19.8 weeks in 2017. The most recent figures for the period January to October 2018 are 30.5 weeks for an oral hearing and 25.3 weeks for a summary decision.

The time taken to process an appeal reflects a number of factors including that the appeals process is quasi-judicial and decisions have to be formally written up to a quasi-judicial standard because they are subject to review by the High Court. Accordingly, the desire to process appeals quickly must be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent, of high quality and made in accordance with the legislative provisions and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice.

A number of new appeals officers have joined the appeals office over the past 12 to 18 months to replace staff leaving on retirement. Given the complexity of the appeals process it takes some time for new staff to be trained up and develop expertise. This has led to longer processing times during this period.

The chief appeals officer has advised me that appeal processing times continue to be a priority for her office and that she expects processing times to improve as recently appointed staff develop the necessary experience and expertise to determine appeal decisions to the standard required.

An appellant can claim supplementary welfare allowance pending the outcome of his or her appeal.

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