Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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292. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the processing time for appeals for each social welfare payment in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20756/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

All claim decisions taken by the Department’s deciding officers are appealable to the Chief Appeals Officer. In any year about 85% of all claims are awarded and just 1% are appealed. Nevertheless, the Department is concerned that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible.

Accordingly, significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years. As a result, appeal processing times improved between 2011 and 2017 from 52.5 weeks for an oral hearing in 2011 to 26.4 weeks in 2017 and from 25.1 weeks for a summary decision in 2011 to 19.8 weeks in 2017. The most recent figures for the period January to April 2018 are 29.9 weeks for an oral hearing and 25.3 weeks for a summary decision.

The appeal processing times for each social welfare payment for the period 1 January to 30 April 2018 are set out in the following table.

The time taken to process an appeal reflects a number of factors including that the appeals process is a quasi-judicial process with appeals officers being required to decide all appeals on a ‘de-novo’ basis. In addition, appeals decisions are themselves subject to review by the higher courts and decisions have to be formally written up to quasi-judicial standards.

Other factors that influence appeals processing times include the quality of the initial decision – in this respect the Department has changed the decisions process in respect of medical schemes, in order to provide more information to the claimant. I expect that this will help to reduce the number of appeals over time.

In addition, a number of new appeals officers have joined the Appeals Office over the past year, to replace staff leaving on retirement. Given the complexity of the appeals process it takes some time for new staff to be trained up and develop expertise. This changeover in staff led to longer times to conclude appeals in 2017 and this has continued in the first four months of 2018. However, the Chief Appeals Officer has advised that she is hopeful that processing times will improve over the course of 2018.

Finally, it should be noted that an appellant can claim supplementary welfare allowance pending the outcome of their appeal and that any favourable decisions are backdated to the original date of the claim.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Appeal Processing Times by Social Welfare Payment 01 January 2018 - 30 April 2018

** Previously called Respite Care Grant

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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293. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the percentage of decisions overturned on appeals for each social welfare payment by written and oral appeals in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20757/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

I understand the Deputy’s question relates to outcomes of appeals dealt with by Appeals Officers by reference to whether the appeal was dealt with summarily or by way of an oral hearing.

The following table provides the details requested by the Deputy in respect of appeals finalised in the full year 2017.

Overall, 60.1% of the 18,980 appeals which were finalised in 2017 had a favourable outcome for the appellant, i.e. were either allowed in full or in part, or resolved by way of a revised decision by a Deciding Officer/Designated Person.

There are a number of reasons why a decision which was refused at first instance might be successful on appeal and it is not necessarily the case that the first decision was wrong.

Where new evidence is provided with an appeal the original decision may be revised by the Deciding Officer or Designated Person as was the case in some 37 per cent of favourable appeal outcomes in both 2017 and 2016. In the period January to April 2018 this was the case in 38 per cent of favourable outcomes. Where the decision was not revised in the Department in light of the appeal contentions, further evidence is often provided by the appellant as the appeal process proceeds and in addition, the Appeals Officer may gain insights when they meet the appellant in person at oral hearing which may influence the outcome of the appeal.

Decisions concerning entitlement to a social welfare payment often require a high level of judgment and may involve complex legal questions. The Courts have found that decision makers are required to be free and unrestricted in discharging their functions.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Table: Outcome by Percentage of Appeals Decided by Appeals Officers 2017

* 1 case