Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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229. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the extent to which appeals against the refusal of carer’s allowance can be expedited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19498/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that 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 High Court 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. It is expected that this will help to reduce the number of appeals over time.

Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years.

In 2019 carer's allowance appeals dealt with by way of summary decision had an average processing time of 23.2 weeks and it was 27.3 weeks for those requiring an oral hearing. The figures for 2020 to the end of June show a significant improvement with 13.1 weeks for appeals dealt with by way of summary decision and 21.7 weeks for those requiring an oral hearing.

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 trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.