John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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255. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a decision will be made in relation to an appeal submitted by a person (details supplied) with the social welfare appeals office; the reason for the long delay in deciding said appeal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54056/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The evidence provided does not indicate that the person concerned was available for full time employment at the time the claim was made.

The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision in the coming days.

The Chief Appeals Officer apologises for the delays experienced by this customer. The Chief Appeals Officer is taking all additional measures to reduce the time taken to process appeals. 20 additional staff have been appointed as Appeals Officers and are making appeal decisions. In addition, new Appeals Regulations have come into effect from the 28th of April which provide, among other things, for simpler processes and specified response times. These should further help to reduce processing times.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.