Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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199. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the social welfare services office is allowed to share the personal data of a person with the social welfare appeals office in circumstances in which no formal notice of an appeal has been lodged and in which the person has not given explicit consent for data sharing. [3762/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of my Department which, under social welfare legislation, is independent in its decision-making.

Under social welfare law, decisions on entitlement to payments are made by a Deciding Officer (DO), based on the evidence and information provided by the person applying for the payment.

Where a DO decides that a person is not entitled to a payment and further evidence is subsequently submitted to the Department, this evidence is normally accepted as being a request for a review or an appeal of the DO’s decision.

Legislation does provide that a Deciding Officer can refer a case directly to the Social Welfare Appeals Office and that, where such a referral is made, it should be treated by the Social Welfare Appeals Office as if it were an appeal by the applicant.

Where a DO accepts further evidence as being a request for an appeal, that evidence is forwarded to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The intention in such cases is to ensure that the person’s entitlements are determined as efficiently as possible.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.