Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue. I refer to the long period people have to wait for a social welfare appeal to be decided. As the Minister of State knows, this places huge stress on individuals and families who are waiting for decisions to be made. Invalidity pensions, domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance are some of the applications subject to very lengthy appeal periods, as I know from my constituency office. As the Minister of State knows, anybody who applies for an invalidity pension is doing so because they are not fit to work on health grounds over a long-term period. Therefore, they need a decision as quickly as possible on their eligibility for the invalidity pension.

People are applying for this payment because they need it, but in many cases it is taking up to eight, nine or even ten months for decisions to be made on appeals for applications. As we know full well, domiciliary care allowance is a payment to families where there is a child under 16 years of age with a severe disability. It is not a means-tested payment, but rather a payment based on the disability of the child. Again, the appeals period can be very lengthy. Unfortunately, this places huge stress on families while waiting for an appeal a decision on an appeal to be made.

Similarly, in many cases of applications for the domiciliary care allowance and the care allowance, people in a household reduce their working hours and may have to give up work entirely in order to stay at home to care for a loved one. They need this payment very badly and, in many cases, urgently.

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Unfortunately, as I have said, an appeal can take up to eight or nine months in some cases. This is totally unacceptable. I am sure the Minister of State will agree it is unacceptable. There is a double standard here because when an applicant gets a decision on the initial application, there is a very tight window to make an appeal. It is quite a strict deadline and there is very little wriggle room for the applicant to surpass it. Yet, once the appeal goes into the system there appears to be an open-ended period for the Department to make a decision on an appeal. This double standard needs to be corrected. There needs to be a strict timeline for appeals to be dealt with.

I recognise the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has tried to improve the situation. I am aware there is recruitment of additional staff to try to address the issue. This is very welcome but there should be a strict timeline for dealing with appeals. I do not think it is acceptable that people have to wait so long for decisions to come through. Whether or not they are approved, ultimately people should be informed of the decision within a reasonable timeframe. I sincerely hope the Minister of State will take back to the Department the message that decisions should be made within a reasonable timeframe to reduce the stress, anxiety and frustration of many individuals and families. Many Members of the House have heard about this through their constituency clinics and constituency offices. I thank the Minister of State again for being here and I sincerely hope she can take this message back loud and clear.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank Deputy McGrath. I am happy to respond on behalf of the Minister.

The social welfare appeals office is an office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals officers are independent in their decision-making functions.

The overall average processing time for all appeals at end of March 9025 was 20.9 weeks. The time taken to process an appeal includes all aspects of the appeal process. This includes an initial validation of the appeal to ensure that adequate grounds have been provided, followed by a referral of the appeal back to the relevant scheme area of the Department for review. Where the first instance decision is not revised in favour of the appellant, the appeal is then considered by the appeals officer, which may require the holding of an oral hearing.

A significant proportion of cases are revised by the Department in favour of the appellant during the review process. This does not mean that the initial decision was incorrect. A decision can be revised because the person making an appeal provides additional information which was not made available when the decision was first made. Where new information, in particular medical information, is provided on appeal, this may require further investigation which can add to the time taken to process an appeal. Despite all of this, the overall average processing time for all appeals at the end of March was 20.9 weeks.

Deputy McGrath will be pleased to hear that new appeal regulations, which have come into effect from 28 April 2025, have increased the time a customer has to submit their appeal from 21 to 60 days, with provision for the chief appeals officer to accept late appeals for up to 180 days in certain circumstances. This will allow customers a longer period to prepare their appeal and gather relevant documentation. The new regulations also provide, for the first time, statutory time limits for key stages of the appeals process, including the length of time the scheme area in the Department has to review an appeal. This is now set at 21 days. The new regulations have also introduced the right to seek an oral hearing. These measures are intended to provide greater transparency and certainty to people making appeals and should help to improve the processing times for appeals.

In addition, a new appeals business process and IT system have recently been implemented. The new process and system have significantly reduced the use of paper in the appeals process. The new system provides online capabilities to provide a more efficient and streamlined service for people availing of services.

In tandem with the introduction of the new system, the number of staff processing appeals has increased significantly. As Deputy McGrath alluded to, an additional 20 appeals officers were appointed at the end of last year. These officers are in addition to the team of 44 officers already in place. Following a period of training they are now actively processing appeals. This is a significant increase of 45% in staffing levels and will, in time, reduce processing times. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, has met with the appeals team to discuss the measures to reduce appeals processing times and will continue to engage with officials on a regular basis.

Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I welcome some of the reply regarding some of the improvements already in train. I very much welcome that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has met the appeals team and additional staff are now being employed, bringing the total number of staff to 64. This is certainly welcome.

With regard to the new appeals regulations, there are positive changes in terms of the applicant having a longer period to make an appeal, and that it could potentially be up to 180 days, at the discretion of the appeals officer. These are welcome changes but they do not necessarily set a specific timeline for decision on an appeal. I know the Minister of State said there are statutory timelines for various stages of the appeal but, ultimately, people want to hear the final decision on whether an appeal is successful. The additional staff are welcome and I hope we will move to a point whereby appeals are decided within a reasonable timeframe. The average of 20 weeks is too high. Unfortunately it is an average, which necessarily means some take much longer than this. This means people are waiting for long periods for a decision to be made.

I welcome the reply. Changes are afoot, which is welcome but this is an issue that must be continually kept under review so we can reduce the appeal period so that people can get decisions within a reasonable and proportionate timeframe.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank Deputy McGrath. I listened with interest to the points he has made. I thank him for highlighting this issue. It is important the appeals process not only works quickly but with due regard to ensuring each case is properly considered. In the first instance, each appeal is referred back to the relevant claim area of the Department which reviews the appeal, including taking account of any new information that may be furnished. This is an important step, as many appeals can be determined quickly upon review by a scheme deciding officer. In order to ensure this process works quickly and transparently, the new appeals regulations set, for the first time, statutory time limits of 21 days for consideration of the appeal by the Department.

Where the scheme area does not change the decision, the case is then considered by an appeals officer. This, of necessity, requires a full consideration of all information, including, in some cases, the use of oral hearings. The chief appeals officer continues to closely 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 decisions are consistent and made in accordance with the provisions set out in primary legislation and regulation.

Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming and streamlining the appeals process in recent years. The chief appeals officer has put in place measures to improve processing times. Twenty additional staff were assigned and attended training in December 2024 and January 2025. They have now been appointed as appeals officers and are making appeal decisions. In addition, a new appeals system, incorporating online functionality for people wishing to lodge an appeal, has been implemented. Together with the implementation of the new appeals regulations, this should reduce processing times.