Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 443: To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to counteract the delays in respect of social welfare oral hearings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28070/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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.

In that regard, a number of initiatives are currently underway designed to enhance the capacity of the office to deal with the current caseload and inflows:-

· 2 additional Appeals Officers were assigned to the Office in 2009,

· A number of additional staff are being assigned to the administration area of the Office,

· The organisation of the Appeals Officer's work has been changed so as to increase productivity,

· A project to improve the business processes in the office is underway and a number of improvements have already been implemented,

· Significant enhancements are being made to the Office's IT and phone systems.

Notwithstanding these measures, it is clear that further additional staff will be required in the short term to address the backlog that has developed. Any such staff must be very experienced and be in a position to operate without significant training. Therefore it has been decided to use experienced retired staff strictly on a short term basis to supplement the current resources.