Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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703. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of pending appeals in respect of jobseeker’s allowance; and the average waiting time for a decision. [62968/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The number of Jobseeker's Allowance appeals currently awaiting decision as of end of Quarter 3 2025 is 2,661 appeals.

The time taken to process appeals includes all aspects of the appeal process. The appeal contentions and any additional documentation are referred back to the relevant scheme area to consider if they can revise their decision. A significant number of appeals are dealt with in this way. Of the 2,661 appeals Jobseeker's Allowance appeals on hand, 48% are currently with the department for consideration of review. Where the first instance decision is not revised in favour of the appellant, the appeal is then considered by the Appeals Officer who may decide the appeal summarily or hold an oral hearing.

The average waiting time for a decision on jobseekers allowance appeals at Quarter 3 2025 is 25 weeks. The Chief Appeals Officer continues to monitor the number of appeals on hand and appeal processing times, and every effort is made to reduce the time taken to process an appeal. Considerable progress has been made with a total of 44,307 appeals across all schemes finalised by the end of October 2025. This is a 96% increase in productivity on the 22,610 dealt with at end of October 2024. As a result, pending appeals volumes have been more than halved from over 22,000 in January this year to about 11,000 currently and are continuing to fall.

It should also be noted, that an appellant may have recourse to supplementary welfare allowance pending the outcome of their appeal.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.