Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Department of Social Protection

Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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342. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the timeframe for social protection appeals to date in 2016 in comparison with each of the years 2011 to 2015. [11830/16]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The average appeal processing time for appeals determined by summary decision and following an oral hearing in the years 2011 to date in 2016 broken down by all social welfare scheme types is as outlined in the following tables.

The unprecedented increase in appeal receipts since 2009 placed considerable pressure on the appeals office and impacted adversely on processing times. The overall 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 in recent years:

- Additional appeals officers were appointed to the office;

- An overhaul of the operating model was undertaken;

- New technology to support appeals officers was introduced;

- Work was undertaken with the Department to reduce delays in responding to requests from the appeals office for appeal submissions.

This resulted in a marked improvement in overall appeal processing times. The average time taken to determine an appeal requiring an oral hearing reduced from 52.5 weeks in 2011 to 25.5 weeks in 2015 and the average time taken to finalise an appeal decided by way of a summary decision dropped from 25.1 weeks in 2011 to 18.1 weeks in 2015. This downward trend in overall appeal processing times has continued to date in 2016 to 24.3 weeks for an oral hearing and 17.3 weeks for a summary decision.

The quasi-judicial nature of the appeals system means that there are inevitable time-lags involved. The system is designed to be 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.

The Chief Appeals Officer assures me that appeals processing times are continuously monitored and that, although significant progress has been made in reducing appeal processing times in recent years, continued improvement in this area remains a priority.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2011 to 31/12/2011



Average processing times (weeks) Summary Decisions


Average processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings
Adoptive Benefit27.9-
Blind Pension20.469.8
Carers Allowance31.357.9
Carers Benefit21.859.4
Child Benefit47.666.0
Disability Allowance27.455.6
Illness Benefit38.259.8
Domiciliary Care25.455.8
Deserted Wives Benefit19.246.0
Farm Assist20.957.9
Bereavement Grant22.1-
Family Income Supplement19.931.8
Invalidity Pension36.458.9
Liable Relatives31.684.1
One Parent Family Payment24.357.5
Maternity Benefit25.162.1
State Pension (Contributory)24.955.3
State Pension (Non-Cont)20.654.6
State Pension (Transition)24.466.0
Occupational Injury Benefit30.754.8
Occupational Injury Benefit (Medical)77.865.0
Disablement Pension48.059.7
Incapacity Supplement-48.3
Guardian's Payment (Con)36.262.7
Guardian's Payment (Non-con)23.959.0
Pre-Retirement Allowance--
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)18.054.8
Jobseeker's Allowance23.847.9
Jobseeker's Benefit15.134.0
JA/JB Fraud Control13.724.9
Respite Care Grant23.460.8
Insurability of Employment34.072.1
Supplementary Welfare Allowance6.317.6
Treatment Benefits28.8-
Survivor's Pension (Con)27.555.3
Survivor's Pension (Non-con)18.153.1
Widows Parent Grant22.0-
All Appeals25.152.5

Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2012 – 31/12/2012



Average processing times (weeks) Summary Decisions


Average processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings
Adoptive Benefit27.740.4
Blind Pension24.434.7
Carers Allowance33.542.5
Carers Benefit27.335.3
Child Benefit47.153.1
Disability Allowance34.240.6
Illness Benefit41.950.3
Domiciliary Care32.541.4
Deserted Wives Benefit27.645.4
Deserted Wives Allowance24.539.5
Farm Assist23.444.9
Bereavement Grant29.0-
Family Income Supplement22.831.2
Invalidity Pension38.848.7
Liable Relatives33.969.7
One Parent Family Payment29.444.6
Maternity Benefit30.841.7
State Pension (Contributory)33.259.4
State Pension (Non-Cont)27.751.1
State Pension (Transition)25.149.1
Occupational Injury Benefit19.566.9
Occupational Injury Benefit (Medical)78.787.4
Disablement Pension35.746.0
Incapacity Supplement14.248.8
Guardian's Payment (Con)25.849.1
Guardian's Payment (Non-con)32.058.8
Pre-Retirement Allowance54.6-
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)22.838.2
Jobseeker's Allowance24.434.4
Jobseeker's Benefit20.930.8
Respite Care Grant28.537.3
Insurability of Employment45.683.3
Supplementary Welfare  Allowance17.622.9
Treatment Benefits19.0-
Survivor's Pension (Con)27.160.5
Survivor's Pension (Non-con)30.939.1
Widows Parent Grant23.2-
All Appeals27.839.5

Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2013 – 31/12/2013



Average processing times (weeks) Summary Decisions


Average processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings
Adoptive Benefit34.2-
Blind Pension24.616.1
Carers Allowance27.933.5
Carers Benefit22.527.4
Child Benefit28.837.7
Disability Allowance29.036.2
Illness Benefit37.443.3
Domiciliary Care27.634.4
Deserted Wives Benefit31.626.1
Deserted Wives Allowance12.2-
Farm Assist23.028.2
Bereavement Grant26.712.4
Family Income Supplement30.741.0
Homemaker19.0-
Invalidity Pension35.042.5
Liable Relatives30.142.9
One Parent Family Payment29.438.3
Maternity Benefit28.450.0
Partial Capacity Benefit39.238.1
State Pension (Contributory)26.444.5
State Pension (Non-Cont)26.841.9
State Pension (Transition)23.743.2
Occupational Injury Benefit36.154.1
Disablement Pension30.736.9
Incapacity Supplement25.860.8
Guardian's Payment (Con)21.944.9
Guardian's Payment (Non-con)45.527.5
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)21.229.7
Jobseeker's Allowance20.526.7
Jobseeker's Benefit21.128.9
Respite Care Grant28.633.1
Insurability of Employment35.878.4
Supplementary Welfare Allowance17.124.1
Treatment Benefits27.7-
Survivor's Pension (Con)26.439.2
Survivor's Pension (Non-Con)28.038.5
Widowed Parent Grant26.3-
All Appeals25.833.9

Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2014 – 31/12/2014



Average processing times (weeks) Summary Decisions


Average processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings
Adoptive Benefit17.1-
Blind Pension20.524.9
Carers Allowance30.134.4
Carers Benefit22.923.1
Child Benefit23.832.9
Disability Allowance20.826.7
Illness Benefit29.534.8
Domiciliary Care Allowance22.629.1
Deserted Wives Benefit-64.7
Deserted Wives Allowance-41.8
Farm Assist23.228.3
Bereavement Grant25.631.9
Family Income Supplement26.032.6
Invalidity Pension25.931.2
Liable Relatives21.533.2
One Parent Family Payment24.433.5
Maternity Benefit22.444.7
Partial Capacity Benefit48.548.5
State Pension (Contributory)25.241.9
State Pension (Non-Cont)20.329.4
State Pension (Transition)27.035.1
Occupational Injury Benefit33.633.7
Disablement Pension23.630.6
Occupational Injury Benefit (Medical)-53.9
Incapacity Supplement21.559.6
Guardian's Payment (Con)25.924.9
Guardian's Payment (Non-con)19.730.3
Pre Retirement Allowance17.3-
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)18.127.5
Jobseeker's Allowance16.221.1
JA/JB Fraud Control12.1-
Jobseeker's Benefit16.721.1
Treatment Benefit20.8-
Respite Care Grant24.927.1
Insurability of Employment45.062.3
Supplementary Welfare  Allowance14.422.1
Survivor's Pension (Con)20.232.5
Survivor's Pension (Non-Con)24.724.6
Widowed Parent Grant22.2-
All Appeals21.128.6

Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2015 – 31/12/2015

Average processing times (weeks) Summary DecisionsAverage processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings
Blind Pension21.130.7
Carers Allowance20.625.9
Carers Benefit19.721.8
Child Benefit24.834.7
Disability Allowance15.821.4
Illness Benefit26.333.1
Partial Capacity Benefit25.743.4
Domiciliary Care Allowance21.728.7
Deserted Wives Benefit19.726.2
Deserted Wives Allowance-16.2
Farm Assist21.028.6
Bereavement Grant65.726.0
Death Benefit (Pension)-22.6
Family Income Supplement19.427.7
Invalidity Pension26.228.4
Liable Relatives22.831.2
Maternity Benefit22.617.5
One Parent Family Payment22.933.9
State Pension (Contributory)26.046.0
State Pension (Non-Contributory)20.430.8
State Pension (Transition)80.153.4
Occupational Injury Benefit20.335.0
Disablement Pension23.735.3
Incapacity Supplement41.251.5
Guardian's Payment (Con)18.227.5
Guardian's Payment (Non-Con)18.731.0
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)15.826.0
Jobseeker's Allowance15.221.9
JA/JB Fraud Control -46.1
BTW Family Dividend14.1-
Jobseeker's Transitional12.921.3
Recoverable Benefits & Assistance21.030.3
Jobseeker's Benefit14.321.2
Pre-Retirement Allowance15.0-
Treatment Benefit17.9-
Respite Care Grant21.223.6
Insurability of Employment47.669.4
Supplementary Welfare  Allowance13.123.5
Survivor's Pension (Con)24.146.6
Survivor's Pension (Non-con)23.738.3
Widows Parent Grant18.4-
All appeals18.125.5

Appeals processing times by scheme 01/01/2016 – 30/04/2016

Average processing times (weeks) Summary DecisionsAverage processing times (weeks) Oral Hearings
Blind Pension17.434.8
Carers Allowance18.422.7
Carers Benefit18.423.4
Child Benefit22.560.1
Disability Allowance15.320.7
Illness Benefit28.731.9
Partial Capacity Benefit17.323.9
Domiciliary Care Allowance22.728.5
Deserted Wives Benefit-40.5
Farm Assist15.822.6
Liable Relatives7.9-
Family Income Supplement15.625.0
Invalidity Pension27.931.0
Maternity Benefit17.528.1
One Parent Family Payment20.425.0
State Pension (Contributory)28.237.9
State Pension (Non-Contributory)21.130.9
State Pension (Transition)67.736.8
Occupational Injury Benefit15.917.1
Disablement Pension19.926.4
Incapacity Supplement-44.0
Guardian's Payment (Con)16.923.1
Guardian's Payment (Non-Con)20.228.5
Jobseeker's Allowance (Means)14.125.0
Jobseeker's Allowance14.819.8
BTW Family Dividend21.3-
Jobseeker's Transitional15.111.8
Recoverable Benefits & Assistance33.6-
Jobseeker's Benefit14.018.3
Treatment Benefit15.0-
Respite Care Grant15.221.8
Insurability of Employment35.2101.5
Supplementary Welfare  Allowance16.728.4
Survivor's Pension (Con)15.723.0
Survivor's Pension (Non-con)20.331.5
Widows Parent Grant21.4-
All Appeals17.324.3

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