Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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188. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the sections of his Department currently affected by longer than average appeal waiting times; the extent to which he expects to address this issue in the future and during the course of 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12042/16]

Leo 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 2015 and to date in 2016 broken down by all social welfare scheme types is as outlined in the following tables. The table also contains numbers of appeal decisions broken down by scheme type for those years. The average processing time by scheme is impacted by the number of decisions involved and in some cases by the complexity of the issue under appeal.

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 judgment 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.

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

*As this Widowed Parent Grant appeal has been re-opened, the average processing time no longer refers.

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