Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 45: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of social welfare appeals being processed; the average waiting time to process social welfare appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38980/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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There was a 46% increase in the number of appeals received by the social welfare appeals office in 2009 when compared to 2008, which in itself was 27% greater than the number received in 2007. I am advised by the social welfare appeals office that as of 26 October 2010 20,936 cases are being processed through various stages of the appeals system, 10, 227 of which are receiving attention in the social welfare appeals office; 9,277 of which are receiving attention in the Department and 1,432 of which are awaiting responses from appellants. As these figures indicate, the nature of the appeals process and its various stages mean that at any one time there are a significant proportion of appeals on hands which have not yet reached the stage of being ready for the attention of appeals officers.

A total of 20,171 appeals were finalised in the period January to end September 2010. The overall average time taken to process all appeals was 27.5 weeks. Of these, 5212 or 25.8% were revised decisions by deciding officers following receipt of the appeal and 2,267 or 11.2%, were withdrawn. The remaining 12,692 decisions were made by appeals officers as follows: 8,701 or 68.6% by summary decisions and 3,991 or 31.4% following an oral hearing. The average time taken to process a summary decision was 28 weeks and the average time to process an oral hearing was 44.5 weeks. A considerable period of time is added to the process when an oral hearing is required because of the logistics involved in such process.

During 2009, 59% of all appeal cases were dealt with by way of oral hearing but due to some of the initiatives outlined below this has been reduced to 31% to date in 2010. To be fair to all appellants, the vetting of appeals and the arranging of oral hearings are dealt with in chronological order. Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Of the 27.5 weeks overall average, 13 weeks was attributable to ongoing processes within the social welfare appeals office; 12.4 weeks was attributable to work in progress within the Department and 2.1 weeks was due to responses awaited from appellants. Of the appeals finalised, 8,69 or 43% were favourable to the appellant; 9,207 or 46% were unfavourable and the remaining 2,267 or 11% were withdrawn.

There has been a significant increase in the number of appeals being made to the social welfare appeals office. Currently, it is anticipated that some 33,000 appeals will be received for 2010, which is compared to roughly 15,000 a year in the years up to and including 2007. The scale of the increase has resulted in significant delays in the processing of appeals. Improving these processing times is a major objective of the office and, in that regard, a number of initiatives have been put in place to enhance the capacity of the office to deal with the current caseload and inflows, namely, three additional appeals officers have been assigned to the office since January 2009; additional staff have been assigned to the administration area of the office; more emphasis is now being placed on dealing with appeals on a summary basis so as to increase productivity; a project to improve the business processes in the office was undertaken resulting in a number of improvements being implemented; and significant enhancements have been made to the office's IT and phone systems. In addition, it was decided to use experienced retired appeals officers strictly on a short term basis to supplement the current resources, eight of whom have been operating on a part-time basis since July.

I am assured by the chief appeals officer that she is keeping current processes under continuous review with a view to achieving a more effective throughput of appeals, while ensuring that any progress does not conflict with due process in terms of the rights of appellants and adherence to the requirements of natural justice.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We are in the middle of the worst recession since the foundation of the State. Does the Minister believe it is right that people should have to wait, in some cases six to seven months, for their appeal to be heard? I want to know that from the Minister because I want to be able to tell my constituents, and the people of this country, what he, as Minister for Social Protection, is doing about that. What action is he taking? What staff is he employing to address the problem? Does the Minister believe it is right, with 465,000 unemployed, to bring back retired people when we have graduates with all kinds of degrees that we could train in a very short time and give them these jobs instead of bringing back people who are retired?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The following steps have been taken. Three additional officers were assigned to the office since January 2009. Additional staff have been assigned to the administrative area of the office. More emphasis is now being placed on dealing with appeals on a summary basis to increase productivity. A project to improve the business process in the office was undertaken which resulted in a number of improvements being implemented. Significant enhancement has been made to the office's IT and telephone systems and, in addition, as the Deputy referred to, experienced retired appeals officers have been taken on to supplement the current resources, strictly on a short-term basis, and eight of those have been operating on a part-time basis since July. In terms of the result of that work, because they are very experienced it has been dramatic and that is what has allowed us to increase dramatically the number of appeals dealt with this year. The difficulty we face, however, is that as the number of appeals dealt with has increased so has the number of appeals coming into the office.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Minister mentioned earlier the number of appeals that were overturned by the independent appeals officer. In regard to the way the Minister's schemes are being implemented by the staff, are the staff being trained correctly when so many appeals are being overturned because the initial decision was wrong? I am asking the Minister what he intends to do about that because it is not fair on people who are waiting for jobseeker's benefit or carer's allowance. The people who are waiting on decisions on appeals need to get them faster, and we need staff put in place.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I agree fully with the Deputy that we must process more appeals faster. We are doing that, and there has been a dramatic improvement this year. However, what has also happened is that the number of appeals has increased at the same time. While 43% of appeals had a successful outcome for the appellant, of the 8,697 favourable decisions in appeals cases, almost two thirds of those decisions - 5,212 - were revised decisions made by statutorily appointed deciding officers of my Department who reviewed the claim following the initial disallowance. In many cases those revised decisions arose as a result of new facts or fresh evidence produced by the claimant after the original decision on his or her claim. In such cases an appeals officer decision was not necessary. In addition, it should be noted that of the 12,692 appeals decided by appeals officers, a total of 9,207, or 73%, upheld the original decision of the deciding officer.

One of the major challenges faced by us is the information provided on appeal. I am sure the Deputy has experience of somebody who comes in and appeals it, and he then encourages them to provide data which, if it had been available earlier, would have avoided the need for an appeal. The figures bear out clearly what we have to examine, namely, whether there are processes we could put in place that would encourage people to give the full information at the outset because if that happened it would cut out many delays and save a great deal of work in my Department.