Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis an Seanadóir as ucht an cheist seo a ardú. Aontaím leis go bhfuil sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go ndéanfaimid na hachomhairc seo a phróiseáil chomh scioptha agus is féidir. Ó tháinig mé isteach sa Roinn, tá mé dírithe go mór ar an gceist seo. Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall, i dteannta na hoifigigh seo, a chinntiú go dtabharfaí seirbhís maith don phobal.

The social welfare appeals process is quasi-judicial in nature and, as such, is subject to inevitable time lags before appeals can be finalised. I recognise that a key factor of satisfaction with the social welfare appeals system is the promptness with which those availing of the service get a decision on their appeal and every effort continues to be made to keep processing times to the absolute minimum.

A number of elements within the procedural process are inevitably time-consuming and can have an adverse impact on the speed with which appeals can be determined. These include the need to ensure due process and fair procedures are adhered to, including the application of the principles of natural justice; the statutory obligation to provide the Department's deciding officer with an opportunity to comment on the grounds of appeal; the need for further investigation of the grounds of appeal or, in the case of certain illness related cases, arranging for a further medical examination or assessment before the appeal can be determined; the need to arrange for an oral hearing of the appeal to resolve conflicts of evidence or where an oral hearing is requested by the appellant; and the need to accommodate appellants who are not in a position to proceed with their appeals or are slow to respond to requests for additional information.

There was a 46% increase in the number of appeals received by the social welfare appeals office in 2009 when compared with 2008, which in itself was 27% greater than the numbers received in 2007. There was an increase of a further 44% in the number of appeals received in the first eight months of 2010. Currently it is anticipated that some 33,000 appeals will be received during 2010, which is compared with roughly 15,000 a year for 2007 and in the years preceding 2007. These increases have also caused delays in the processing of appeals.

Improving processing times continues to be a major objective of the social welfare appeals office. A number of initiatives have been put in place to enhance the capacity of the office to deal with the current caseload and inflows. In that regard, two additional appeals officers were assigned to the office in 2009, a number of additional staff were assigned to the administration area of the office, the organisation of the appeals officers' work was changed so to increase productivity, a project to improve the business processes in the office was undertaken and resulted in a number of improvements being implemented, and significant enhancements were made to the office's information technology and phone systems. In addition, it was decided to use experienced retired staff strictly on a short-term basis to supplement the current resources, and the services of eight retired officers have been secured and 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 continual review with a view to achieving a more effective throughput of appeals while ensuring any progress does not conflict with due process in terms of the rights of appellants and adherence to the requirements of natural justice.

In the case of the person concerned, the social welfare appeals office has advised me that his appeal was registered in that office on 14 November 2009. In line with statutory obligations the appeal was referred back to the deciding officer in the Department for a submission on the grounds of appeal and for the case papers. This process involved a further assessment by a second medical assessor of the Department and the papers were received back in the social welfare appeals office on 9 February 2010. They have been referred to an appeals officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing in this case. Given the logistics involved in organising an oral hearing, a considerable period of time is added to the process. To be fair to all appellants, oral hearings are dealt with in chronological order and for that reason its not possible to give an actual date in this case. The person will be notified when arrangements have been made.

We amended the law to allow retired staff to return on a part-time basis to the Department and I am sure the Senator agrees that was a good change in the law since I became Minister. The social welfare appeals office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.