Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after ??Seanad Éireann?? and substitute the following:
"- notes the importance of transparency and independence (actual and perceived) in the social welfare appeals system;
- notes that the appeal process has a statutory basis in both primary and secondary legislation and that appeals officers are quasi judicial officers and are required to be, and are, free and unrestricted in discharging their functions;
- notes that the appeals system was reformed in 1990 to establish the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) as a separate executive office headed up by a Chief Appeals Officer;
- recognises that in the 20 years since that reform the SWAO has operated independently and impartially and that there has been no sustained or concerted criticism relating to the independence of the office or the impartiality of appeals officers;
- recognises that the impartiality and independence of the office is evidenced by the high level of appeals allowed (42%) and that the ability to invoke the courts on a matter of law or by means of judicial review is a very valuable underpinning of the system;
- notes that by its very nature the appeals process cannot be a particularly quick one, and includes times spent:? seeking the Department?s submission on the grounds of appeal,
? further medical assessments by the Department where the issue is medical,
? affording the appellant the opportunity to respond or submit any additional medical evidence where there is an unfavourable outcome following further medical assessments by the Department,
? further investigations by social welfare inspectors where required, and
? the logistics involved in arranging oral hearings where deemed appropriate;- recognises that while the process is long it is an ongoing one where appellant?s entitlements are reviewed at various stages of the process and often more than once in cases where additional evidence is submitted;
- notes that the rapid and sustained increase in the number of appeals from 2009 to date placed extraordinary pressure on the SWAO and that actions taken to address these increases include:? 15 additional appeals officers assigned,
? retired appeals officers retained for 18 months from mid-2010 to end 2011,
? business process have improved and
? significant reform of the operating model, which has re-balanced the processing times for appeals whether they are decided summarily or require an oral hearing;- notes that as a result of these measures there has been significant increase in the number of appeals finalised from an average of 13,500 to 34,027 in 2011 and that the processing times reduced by an overall 10.2 weeks in the nine months to September 2012 as the oral hearing time is down by 12.5 weeks and the summary decision time is up by 2.3 weeks;
- notes that it is planned to continue to reduce these processing times through:? finalising an additional 6,000 appeals in 2013 as the capacity of recently appointed appeals officers improves,
? the major programme of process redesign and modernisation, which will reduce backlogs schemes and will also reduce the time taken for the Department to respond to request from the SWAO for submissions on appeals for these schemes,
? recruiting an additional medical assessors in 2013 which will also reduce the time taken by the Department to deal with requests for reviews or to respond to appeals;- notes that the measures taken to increase output and reduce processing times do not in any way compromise the respect with which the SWAO treat each appeal and the concern they have to ensure that the law is correctly applied in each and every case; the continued emphasis on quality is evidenced in the regular training that is provided for appeals officers in relevant areas of law including human rights law and, as recently as January this year, a training session relating to fair procedures was held and facilitated by an expert in social welfare and human rights law;
? recognise that in the interests of fair procedures, clear and concise information is issued to each appellant:? outlining the process and the oral hearing procedures,
? informing them that they have the right to request any documents or information that the deciding officer relied on in making his or her decision from the Department,
? informing them that the appeals officer may decide to hold an oral hearing of their appeal and that the purpose of the hearing would be to allow the appeals officer to obtain more details about their case - appellants are also informed that the appeals officer may decide that there is sufficient information available to decide their case without recourse to an oral hearing;- notes that in the interest of fair procedures the range of primary application forms produced by the Department have been standardised to ensure consistency and clarity for customers including the use of plain English and instructions on how to complete the form;
- notes that in 2011, the Department undertook a skills and training needs analysis of staff in the areas of jobseekers claim acceptance and decisions; as a result of the needs identified, a formal two-week deciding officers training course was designed and launched in November 2011; in addition, initial work has begun on developing further training for deciding officers in other scheme areas in relation to decision-making, reviewing decisions and appeals submissions;
- notes that in order to ensure that unnecessary hardship is not caused for the most vulnerable appellants, appeals in relation to SWA are prioritised;
- notes that the National Advocacy Service provides independent, confidential and free advocacy for people with disabilities while the INOU provide advocacy services to the unemployed either directly or through a network of affiliates;
- notes that the methods of operation by which the appeals office conducts its business is kept under constant review to ensure that the system meets the standards of fair hearing and human rights, and the outcome is reported on in the annual report of the Chief Appeals Officer to the Minister;
- welcomes the Government commitment to developing the initial work which has already begun on providing further training for deciding officers in other scheme areas in relation to decision-making, reviewing decisions and appeals submissions;
- welcomes the Government commitment to reduce processing times for appeals as outlined above and through taking any further measures which may be adopted to ensure that appeals are dealt with as swiftly and fairly as possible.".

I welcome the Minister who is a frequent visitor to the House. This is an interesting motion because it is a real issue - it is about a daily occurrence. I acknowledge that the appeals system has come under unprecedented strain in recent years. We have to acknowledge the Minister's Department is now making payments to almost 450,000 people.