Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average time a social welfare appeal has taken to reach a decision in the past six months for which data are available, and the comparable figure for the previous six months and for the same period year-on-year. [46974/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Tables detailing the processing times for appeals, by month, to date in 2012 and for all of 2011 are provided in the following table. Annual processing times for the years 2007 to 2010 are also included. Statistics of the monthly average processing times prior to 2011 are not held.

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.