Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will take emergency action to speed up the processing of appeals for domiciliary care allowance which are taking an average of 13.3 weeks and 49.1 weeks for summary and oral appeals respectively and in some cases much longer especially considering the high rate of appeals being successful, 54% in 209 and 36% in 2010, which means that the carers of children and others with disabilities who are entitled to the payment are being forced to go without it for long periods. [4644/11]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 191: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the sharp decrease in the success rate of appeals for domiciliary care allowance from 54% in 2009 to 36% in 2010. [4645/11]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 190 and 191 together.

Domiciliary Care Allowance was transferred to the Department from the HSE in 2009. In that year 11 Domiciliary Care Allowance appeals were processed by the Appeals Office compared to 652 in 2010. Each appeal is dealt with on its own merits after the Appeals Officer considers all the evidence and, consequently, the Social Welfare Appeals Office is not in a position to advance reasons why the rates for successful appeals rise or fall by comparison of one year with another.

Overall, the annual intake of appeals has increased from 14,070 in 2007 to 32,432 in 2010, an increase of 18,362 (130.5%) and this has impacted on the length of time to process appeals. In recognition of these increases, a number of initiatives have been introduced which, while not eliminating the time lags, have significantly increased the number of cases finalised in 2010 (28,166) in comparison to those finalised in 2009 (17,787). Of these cases, 17,499 were decided by Appeals Officers in 2010, as opposed to 10,027 in 2009.

The Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010 facilitated the use of experienced retired former Appeals Officers, on a strictly temporary basis to assist in reducing the backlog of Social Welfare Appeals cases.

In conjunction with the provision of extra staff, more emphasis is now placed on dealing with appeals on a summary basis so as to increase productivity. As a result, the number of appeals dealt with by Appeals Officers by way of oral hearing was reduced from 59% in 2009 to 31.5% in 2010

A project to improve the business processes in the office was also undertaken which has resulted in a number of improvements being implemented and significant enhancements have been made to the office's IT and phone systems.

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.