Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

131. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures his Department is taking to address the current backlog and processing time of social welfare appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52103/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

At the end of June 2026 the average processing time for Social Welfare Appeals is 12 weeks.

In comparison, the average processing time for Social Welfare Appeals in 2025 was 21.2 weeks.

An Appeals Modernisation Project to develop and implement new business processes was completed in 2025. The purpose of the project was to streamline and enhance the end-to-end appeals process for the customer. The new system provides online capabilities on MyWelfare which provide a more efficient and streamlined service for people making appeals. The changes implemented as part of the project support the end-to-end electronic processing of appeals and provide a secure, comprehensive, online appeals service for customers. They also improve the customer experience by offering an additional online channel, facilitating 24/7 access to view their current appeal status which has helped improve communications with appellants during the appeals process.

New Social Welfare Appeals Regulations (S.I. No. 744 of 2024) came into effect on Monday, 28 April 2025. The purpose of these regulations is to modernise and streamline the social welfare appeals process, providing greater clarity, improved consistency, and more defined timeframes.

This modernisation of the appeals process, along with some additional resources put in place by the Chief Appeals Officer, has led to a reduction of the number of appeals on hand and the length of time it takes for appeals to be processed and decided.

The Chief Appeals Officer continues to monitor processing times and every effort is made to reduce the time taken to process an appeal. However, the drive for efficiency must be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and made in accordance with the provisions set out in primary legislation and regulations.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.