Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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11. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will revamp the Social Protection application process to reduce the excessive waiting times of six months for an oral hearing and four months for a summary hearing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1216/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Chief Appeals Officer assures me that, although significant progress has been made in reducing appeal processing times in recent years, continued improvement in this area remains a priority.

The unprecedented increase in appeal receipts since 2009 placed considerable pressure on the appeals office and impacted adversely on processing times. The number of appeals received increased from an average of 15,000 per year up to 2009, to a peak of 35,500 in 2012, reducing annually thereafter to just below 25,000 in 2015.

Significant effort and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeals process resulting in a substantial improvement in processing times in recent years. The average time for an appeal requiring an oral hearing reduced from 52.5 weeks in 2011 to 25.5 weeks in 2015 and for a summary decision from 25.1 weeks to 18.1 weeks. In addition, the number of appeals on hands at the end of 2015 has decreased by 57.4% from a year-end peak of 20,414 in 2012 to 8,697 appeals on hands at 31 December 2015.

There is no simple solution. The quasi-judicial nature of the appeals system means that there are inevitable time-lags involved. The system is flexible and fair and allows for review and submission of further information up to and including the oral hearing. The time taken is proportionate to the complexity of many of the issues under appeal, which require a high level of judgement and often involve complex legal questions.

A number of elements within the process are time-consuming including the need to ensure due process, natural justice and compliance with the statutory obligation to obtain the Department’s appeal submission. If an oral hearing is requested by the appellant or is required to resolve conflicts, the processing time is prolonged.