Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1333.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the current average time for social welfare appeals across the various payment applications. [32485/24]

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

The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions and management of the Appeals Office is the responsibility of the Chief Appeals Officer.

In 2023 the average overall processing time to finalise an appeal was 16 weeks. The time taken to process an appeal includes all elements of the process including seeking relevant documentation from the Department. The preparation of material by the Department may involve examining the original decision, seeking further medical assessments in certain illness related cases, and investigation by Social Welfare Inspectors, where required. All of these elements extend overall processing times.

The Annual Report of the Chief Appeals Officer is published each year and shows processing times for each scheme at a granular level. The report for 2023 is being finalised will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas very shortly.

An Appeals Modernisation Project is currently underway with the first phase, a new appeals IT system supporting business processes, being introduced in November 2023. The second phase, involving the introduction of an online appeals application system will be introduced shortly. The new system has already significantly reduced the time taken to register and acknowledge appeals lodged with the Office and will, in time, reduce the overall average processing times. A number of internal initiatives are also being undertaken under the direction of the Chief Appeals Officer to improve ways of working within the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

There is active engagement between the Appeals Office and my Department to ensure that the appeals process operates as efficiently as possible and that where the Deciding Officer's decision is not revised in favour of the appellant, that the relevant files are provided as quickly as possible to the Appeals Office for consideration by an Appeals Officer.