Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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78. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the delay in issuing a decision on a social welfare appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4357/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to partially allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned was notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision in writing on 27^th January 2014.

There has been a rapid and sustained increase in the number of appeals received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office since 2009 which has placed extraordinary pressure on the office. Up to 2009, the average number of appeals received was 15,000 per annum whereas in 2012 and 2013 the number of appeals received was 35,484, and 32,777 respectively. In order to manage this increased workload significant resources and efforts have been put into reducing backlogs and improving appeals processing times for appellants, including the assignment of 15 additional Appeals Officers, in addition to 10 former Community Welfare Service Appeals Officers who joined the office in 2011, bringing the total number of Appeals Officers to 41; reviewing and improving businesses processes; and implementing a new operating model within the appeals office. A major programme of process redesign and modernisation is also under way in the Department in many of its scheme areas aimed at reducing backlogs and reducing the time taken in the Department to respond to requests from the appeals office for submissions in relation to appeals.

These efforts have led to improvements in processing times. In 2011 the average processing time for an appeal requiring an oral hearing was 52.5 weeks and 25.1 weeks for a summary decision. In 2013 the equivalent average appeal processing times were 33.9 weeks for an oral hearing and 25.8 weeks for a summary decision. There has also been an improvement in the numbers of appeals finalised from 32,558 in 2012 to 38,421 in 2013. The number of appeals on hands has also reduced - from 20,414 at the 1^st January 2013 to 14,770 at 1^st January 2014.

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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.