Written answers

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Department of Social Protection

Social Welfare Appeals

10:00 pm

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 334: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of appellants of social welfare decisions in Counties Louth and Meath that are awaiting oral hearing; the timeframe for getting oral hearing; the number of cases awaiting a medical assessor; the number of medical assessors there are for the Louth/Meath region and the hours they work in appeals section. [26405/12]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I have been advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that statistics are not maintained on a county-by-county basis. Therefore, it is not in a position to supply the information sought by the Deputy in relation to counties Louth and Meath. Based on figures for the first four months of 2012, the overall average waiting time for appeals was 40.5 weeks for those appeals that required an oral hearing. These average processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation. They 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.

By its nature and its quasi-judicial nature, the processing of appeals takes some time. By definition, the appeal process cannot be a quick one. A considerable period of time is added to the process when an oral hearing is required because of the logistics involved in this process. Medical Assessors perform in-person assessments on illness-related cases involving Illness Benefit and Disablement Benefit. While there are no Medical Assessors permanently assigned for in-person assessment work solely in the Louth-Meath region, this region is frequently serviced by a pool of nine Medical Assessors based in the Dublin area. Medical centres in highly populated areas in this region such as Drogheda, Navan and Dundalk are frequently selected for scheduling for in-person assessment, often two weeks out of every four for Drogheda and Navan and one week in every three or four for Dundalk.

The weekly travel itinerary or caseload for in-person assessments provided to each Medical Assessor is based on an up-to-date appraisal of which centres need to be visited. That, in turn, is based on the current number of outstanding referrals, including appeals referrals, the frequency of recent visits to centres and an up-to-date assessment of available building, medical assessor and nurse resources for each centre. Cases for schemes such as Illness Benefit at the initial stage, Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carers Allowance and Benefit, Respite Care Grant and Domiciliary Care Allowance are all assessed by Medical Assessors on-line at desk. If the cases pertaining to these schemes progress to appeal stage (except Illness Benefit cases), they are also assessed on-line and at desk. However, all outstanding cases for desk assessment work including those for customers based in the Louth-Meath region, can be accessed and performed on line by Medical Assessors based in Dublin, Longford, Cork, Kilkenny and Donegal. In appeals cases pertaining to all schemes, a different Medical Assessor from the Medical Assessor who performed the original assessment must be assigned.

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