Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. In general, social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process.

Before a decision can be made on entitlement to carer’s allowance (CA), evidence must be provided in respect of the care recipient’s care requirement, the level of care the carer provides and the carer’s means. In respect of disability allowance (DA), evidence must be provided in respect of the person’s medical condition, the extent to which it restricts them from taking up employment, their means and their habitual residency.

The target processing time for the CA scheme is to award 75% of new claims within 10 weeks. The average processing time to award for new CA applications is currently 6 weeks. This remains the same as the average processing time of 6 weeks in 2022.

The target processing time for the DA scheme is to award 75% of new claims within 10 weeks. Currently the average processing time to award for new DA applications at the end September was 10 weeks. This represents an increase from December 2022 when the processing time was 8 weeks.

My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions.

All claim decisions taken by the Department’s Deciding Officers and Designated Persons are appealable to the Chief Appeals Officer. In any year, about 85% of all claims are awarded by the Department and approximately 1% are appealed. The Department endeavours to ensure that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible.

Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to improvements in the appeal process in recent years. The average time for processing all appeals finalised in 2022 was 15 weeks. In 2023 to date, the average processing time for all appeals has increased slightly to 16 weeks.

The desire to process appeals quickly has to be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and of high quality and made in accordance with the legislative provisions and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice. There is active engagement between the Appeals Office and the Department to ensure that the appeals process operates efficiently and that, where the Deciding Officer's decision is not revised in favour of the appellant, the appeal file papers are provided as quickly as possible to the Appeals Office for consideration by an Appeals Officer.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.