Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 301: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she has plans to employ additional staff to deal with the backlog of applications in the appeals office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34274/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The need for additional resources to deal with a very significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office has been recognised by the Department. 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 currently it appears that in the region of another 30,000 will be received during 2011.

In that context, the Department made 9 additional appointments to the Office earlier this year. These assignments have augmented the 3 appointments made to the Office in 2010, bringing the total number of appeals officers serving in the Office to 29. In addition, since July 2010, 8 retired appeals officers, equating to a further 3 full-time officers, have been assisting on a strictly part-time basis with the backlogs of appeals and it is intended that they will be employed until the end of the year. From the 1st of October, the Community Welfare Service merged with the Department of Social Protection. In that regard, the Community Welfare Service appeals system has been integrated with the Social Welfare Appeals Office and this has resulted in the transfer of 10 additional Appeals Officer from that date. However the integration is expected to add a further 9,000 appeals to the numbers registered in the Social Welfare Appeals Office in a full year.

In addition to the provision of additional staff, I am assured by the Chief Appeals Officer that she is keeping the methods of operation by which the Social Welfare Appeals Office conducts its business under constant review, and that the processes are continuously being enhanced to reduce the backlogs in the Office and, overall, to reduce the processing times for dealing with appeals. As a result of the various initiatives taken, there has been an increase in the number of decisions made by Appeals Officers of 5,708 in the first 10 months of 2011 in comparison to the same period in 2010, as well as a reduction in the backlog of 2,863 in the same period.