Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 269: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appeal against the refusal to grant carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; if she will expedite the processing of the appeal as the applicant is experiencing financial hardship with no income; and if she will confirm the reason they were refused carer's allowance. [13827/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The person in question was refused carer's allowance on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full-time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. He was notified of this decision and the reason for it.

He appealed this decision and forwarded additional medical evidence in support of his appeal. This information has been forwarded to the medical assessor for further consideration.

The outcome of the review is due shortly.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will expedite an appeal for one parent family and child benefit in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [13874/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 23rd September 2011. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 6th December 2011 and the appeal will, in due course, be assigned to an Appeals Officer for consideration.

There has been a very significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office since 2007 when the intake was 14,070 to 2010 when the intake rose to 32,432. This has significantly impacted on the processing time for appeals and in order to be fair to all appellants, the appeals are dealt with in strict chronological order.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 272: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if an appeal for invalidity pension will be expedited in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow. [13877/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Further to my response to Parliamentary Question Ref. No. 4948/12, I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there is no update to the information given previously.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 273: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for carer's allowance appeals. [13882/12]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 274: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for domiciliary care allowance appeals. [13883/12]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 287: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason there is a 12 to 14-month wait when dealing with appeals for domiciliary care allowance. [14212/12]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 292: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average length of time taken to process social welfare programme appeals, broken down by scheme in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012. [14227/12]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total number of appeals currently being processed by her Department, broken down by programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14239/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 273, 274, 287, 292 and 304 together.

Figures in regard to the number of appeals currently being processed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office broken down by scheme, and the average time to process appeals by summary decision and by oral hearing by scheme type for 2007 – 2011 are given in the tables below. Processing time for 2012 to date are not available.

In an effort to reduce the processing times, the Department appointed 12 additional Appeals Officers during between 2010 and 2011. In addition, a further 10 Appeals Officers, formerly employed by the Community Welfare Services (CWS) of the Health Services Executive, joined the Office as part of the integration of the CWS appeals services into the Social Welfare Appeals Office. This brought the total number of Appeals Officers to 39.

The processing times below are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation and include all activities during this period including time spent in the Department for comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal put forward by the appellant and any further investigation, examination or assessment by the Department's Inspectors and Medical Assessors that is deemed necessary. A considerable period of time is added to the process when an oral hearing is required because of the logistics involved in this process.

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.