Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 195: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on the recent annual report of the Social Welfare Appeals Office; his further views on the fact that 47% of all appeals against original decisions were successful; and if he will consider issuing new guidelines in regard to entitlements. [31743/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The report to which the Deputy refers was produced by the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) in accordance with legislative requirements. It contains details of the activities of the office in 2005, as well as commentary on other issues which arose during the year. As previously stated by me on 10 August 2006, the SWAO has a pivotal role to play in ensuring that welfare customers have access to an independent review mechanism when they feel aggrieved by a decision made by my Department and wish to appeal the outcome.

My Department makes every effort to deal sensitively with all cases and to deliver entitlements to people based on need and in accordance with the legislation. However, considering that my Department makes almost one million payments a week that benefit more than 1.5 million people, and received 1.75 million claims for statutory social welfare schemes in 2005, it is understandable that there will be some people who will not agree with decisions made on their entitlements. The total number of appeals to the SWAO, viewed in the context of the number of claims received, is small.

The report highlights that 47% of appeals had a successful outcome for the appellant. It refers to the fact that of the 6,325 favourable decisions on appeal cases, in excess of half of these decisions (3,302) were in fact revised decisions made by statutorily appointed Deciding Officers of my Department, who reviewed the claim following the initial disallowance. These revised decisions arose as a result, in many cases, of new facts or fresh evidence produced by the claimant after the original decision on his/her claim. In such cases an Appeals Officer decision was not necessary. In addition, it should be noted that of the 8,484 appeals actually decided by Appeals Officers, a total of 5,461 (64%) upheld the original decision of the Deciding Officer.

The right of review to which I referred earlier, was introduced in 2002 in response to the commitment contained in my Department's Strategy Statement 2001-2004. In that Statement we undertook to "develop our systems to ensure that any decision will be reviewed in the light of any further information brought to our notice. All customers who receive an adverse decision are advised of their right to have their claim reviewed".

Customers whose claims are disallowed or who are disqualified from payment or awarded social welfare at a reduced rate are informed that if they have any new fact or evidence that has a bearing on their case, they should send it in the first instance to the Deciding Officer for re-examination and, if appropriate, for revision of the decision. They are informed that this right is in addition to their right of appeal to the SWAO. They can seek a Deciding Officer review before making an appeal or can do both concurrently. The right of appeal to the SWAO remains an option if the review by the Deciding Officer is not fruitful.

The success of this strategy has been highlighted in a number of annual reports of the SWAO. In the Annual Report 2002, for example, the contribution which the Deciding Officer Review process made in reducing the overall number of appeals that were received in the SWAO was noted. In the first full year of operation, it is estimated that 3,738 appeals were cut short as a result of a revised decision by a Deciding Officer and resulted in a favourable outcome for the appellant. The 2005 Annual Report also highlights the success of this strategy.

The ongoing discussions between the Social Welfare Appeals Office and my Department on matters of common interest are referred to in the Annual Report. Arising from such discussions, guidelines, procedures and practices are reviewed and changed where necessary. The role of the statutorily appointed Deciding Officer is to decide entitlement to statutory social welfare schemes and insurability of employment in accordance with the legislation. The conditions of entitlement are kept under review and my Department has been involved in various reviews of schemes as part of its annual business plans. I welcome the continued commitment of the SWAO to providing an accessible and independent review mechanism for people who appeal against decisions made by my Department in regard to their statutory entitlements.