Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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111. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of oral hearings that have taken place in the past twelve months, in respect of the various payments made by her Department to social welfare recipients; the number of cases where the original decision was overturned, arising from the hearing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17844/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that legislation provides that where an Appeals Officer is of the opinion that an appeal can be properly determined without an oral hearing, he or she may determine the appeal summarily on the basis of the documentary evidence provided.

If an appellant requests an oral hearing, that request will generally be granted unless the Appeals Officer considers that a positive decision, based on the documentary evidence presented, can be given without recourse to an oral hearing. However, in some cases, where there is clearly nothing to be gained from an oral hearing, for example when a decision relates to a question of social insurance contributions or means which is not disputed, the Appeals Officer may decide the appeal on a summary basis.

As reported in the 2014 Annual Report of the Social Welfare Appeals Office, 24,081 appeals were finalised by appeals officers in 2014, and of these 7,523 (31.2%) appeals were decided following an oral hearing. Of these 4,868 (64.7%) had a successful outcome for the appellant while 2,655 (35.3%) were disallowed. 16,558 (68.8%) appeals were decided by summary decision and of these 7,462 (45.1%) had a successful outcome for the appellant.

Of the 6,456 appeals decided by appeals officers to date in 2015, 2,316 (35.87%) appeals were decided following an oral hearing. Of these 1,464 (63.22%) had a successful outcome for the appellant while 852 (36.78%) were disallowed. 4,140 (64.13%) appeals were decided by summary decision and of these 1,829 (44.18%) had a successful outcome for the appellant.

While it appears that there is a proportionately higher rate of success following oral hearing this is not surprising given that the Appeals Officer who convenes the hearing is the same Appeals Officer who decided that the case could not be decided fairly on a summary basis. The reasons for this will include the level of complexity of the issues, conflicts in the evidence, or the need for elaboration by the appellant on the grounds of appeal.