Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 348: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons within the appeals process with regards disability allowance applications and all other social protection allowances; the average wait time for these appeals; the longest wait times; and if the practice of giving updates on decisions of the appeals to TD's has changed. [35162/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The number of appeals on hands for all scheme types at the end of June 2012 is listed in Table 1. At the end of June 2012 there were 4,122 appeals of Disability Allowance pending.

The current processing times for all scheme types are listed in Table 2. Generally the vast majority of cases fall within average times but extenuating factors, often outside of the control of the Social Welfare Appeals Office, will cause greater delays in some cases.

In light of this, the attached table showing the current processing times (based on figures at the end of June 2012) shows the overall average for each scheme along with the average when the older appeals are excluded.

These 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. A considerable period of time is added to the process when an oral hearing is required because of the logistics involved in this process.

In an effort to reduce the processing times for all appeals, the Department has appointed 13 additional Appeals Officers since 2010. 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, bringing the total number of Appeals Officers now serving in the Office to 40. In addition to this the Office has improved its business processes and IT support.

There has been no change in the practice of giving updates on decisions of appeals to TDs. TDs can request updates on progress of appeals by calling a dedicated phone line or by sending in a request for update to TDREPS.Appeals@welfare.ie.

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.

Table 1: Appeals on hand at 01 July 2012

Table 2: Appeals processing times by scheme 1/1/2012 - 30/6/2012 – Summary and Oral