Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this issue. 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.

The social welfare appeals system is underpinned by Chapter 2 of Part 10 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and the Social Welfare (Appeals) Regulations 1998 - SI 108 of 1998. Under the legislation, the decision of an appeals officer is final and conclusive and but can be reviewed by an appeals officer under section 317 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act in the light of new evidence or new facts that may be brought to their attention .To put that in English:, if you have a decision and you can provide new information, a different person will look at the appeal. If you have a decision and you can produce more information, a different person will look at it. A decision of an appeals officer can also be reviewed by the Chief Appeals Officer under section 318 where it appears or is claimed that a decision was erroneous based on the law or the facts. Decisions can also be appealed to the courts.

The review mechanism under section 317 is particularly useful as it enables a person to submit additional relevant evidence - perhaps a more detailed medical report - after an appeal is finalised and by so doing avoid the need to make a completely new claim. There are currently 616 section 317 appeal reviews with the appeals office for determination. A table with the number of section 317 reviews carried out in each of the years from 2021 to 2023 with the outcomes and average processing times for each year is appended.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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