Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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19. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a breakdown of current processing times for decisions of first instance and for the conclusion of appeals, by scheme. [9315/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A breakdown of the average time taken by the Department to award applications for social welfare payments, as of January 2015, is detailed in Table 1 below.

The processing times vary by scheme. This principally reflects the fact that the legal eligibility conditions - such as means tests, family circumstances and medical status - are more complex for some schemes than for others. The processing times provided in the table are calculated on the basis of the total time from the registration date of the claim to final award; as such, they incorporate the impact of the appeals process.

Table 2 details average processing times during 2014 and 2015 for appeals of claims relating to weekly social welfare payments. For each payment scheme, the table shows the breakdown between cases where the appeal is decided by summary decision, and those decided following an oral hearing.

Appeal processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation. This includes time spent awaiting any clarification from the appellant, time 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. To ensure accessibility, flexibility, equity and thoroughness, and because it is a quasi-judicial function, the processing of appeals takes time.

Appeal processing times peaked in 2011 when the average time for an oral hearing was 52.5 weeks and for a summary decision was 25.1 weeks. In 2013 the average time for an oral hearing reduced to 33.9 weeks and the time for a summary decision increased slightly to 25.8 weeks. This overall improvement continued in 2014 with appeal processing times reducing to 28.6 weeks for an oral hearing and 21.1 weeks for a summary decision. The downward trend has continued in 2015 with the average processing time for an oral hearing reduced to 27.9 weeks and the time for a summary decision reduced to 18 weeks.

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.

Table 1: Average time to award Claims January 2015

Table 2: Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2015 – 31/01/15