Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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170. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number and types of oral hearings completed by the Appeals Office to date in 2025, in tabular form; to outline whether there are plans to increase the number of oral hearings carried out by the Appeals Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50110/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Oral hearings on social welfare appeals can be held virtually, in person or by phone. There have been a total of 103 oral hearings completed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office as of the end of Quarter 2 2025. The breakdown of the different types of oral hearings completed is as follows:

There have been 34 oral hearings held virtually.

There have been 17 oral hearings held in-person.

There have been 52 oral hearings held by phone.

The Chief Appeals Officer has advised me that when a case is assigned to an Appeals Officer, the Appeals Officer will examine the documentary evidence presented and consider if the appeal can be properly and fairly decided by way of a summary decision.

Where it is not possible to decide the appeal by way of summary decision, an oral hearing will be held. The appellant is generally given 2-3 weeks advance notice of the date of the oral hearing. At any time during the appeal process, up to and including the oral hearing of the appeal, an appellant can submit additional information, which affords them the opportunity to strengthen their case.

A recently completed Appeals Modernisation Programme has resulted in significant changes and technological advances across the Department and in the appeals process. Appellants now have the ability to easily transmit additional documentation and evidence to the relevant scheme area or the Appeals Office through the MyWelfare platform. This can mean that evidence that previously would not have been available to the Appeals Officer until an oral hearing can be provided earlier in the process and result in an Appeals Officer being able to decide a higher number of cases on a summary basis. It can also mean that scheme areas in the Department can use this additional information when considering revising a decision before an appeal has been examined by an Appeals Officer. In these cases there is obviously no need for an oral hearing.

The increasing ease with which an appellant can make contact and provide evidence prior to appeal has reduced the number of situations where there are unresolved conflicts in the documentary evidence presented in an appeal. This has allowed for an increase in the number of summary decisions.

Under the Social Welfare Appeals Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 744 of 2024) which came into effect on 28 April 2025, there is now, for the first time, a legal entitlement for an appellant to request an oral hearing. In addition, where an Appeals Officer decides that a hearing is no necessary they must provide the appellant requesting the hearing with reasons in writing as to why this is so. These new rights and obligations are intended to provide assurance to appellants that their concerns and contentions will be properly considered.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.