Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The social welfare appeals office is an office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in respect of social welfare entitlements. Appeals officers are independent in their decision-making functions.

The office is currently finalising its annual report for 2023, with the data showing that the overall average processing time for an appeal was 16 weeks. For an appeal decided without an oral hearing, the average processing time was 17.6 weeks and for those with an oral hearing, it was 29.2 weeks.

Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming and streamlining the appeal process in recent years. A modernisation project is under way to develop and implement a new appeals business process and IT system. As part of this project, 12 additional administration staff have been added to the appeals team. In addition, ten appeals officers have been appointed this year to replace those who have retired or moved to new roles. This project aims to provide an enhanced and responsive appeals service for customers. A new IT system was introduced on 6 November 2023. The next phase of the system, which will be implemented in quarter 3 of 2024, will provide functionality on the MyWelfare platform for making appeals online.

The new system has already significantly reduced the time taken to register and acknowledge appeals lodged with the appeals office and, in time, will reduce the overall average processing times.

The chief appeals officer continues to monitor processing times and every effort is made to reduce the time taken to process an appeal. However, the drive for efficiency must be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and of high quality and are made in accordance with the requirements set out in primary legislation and in regulations and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice. In order to streamline the process and provide for specific response timelines, a draft new set of regulations was prepared and discussed at an Oireachtas committee and also issued for public consultation. These are now being finalised to take account of responses received and when implemented, will enable a more transparent and efficient appeals process.

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