Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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4. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department or the Social Welfare Appeals Office make use of test or sample cases when making decisions on individual applications or appeals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37677/24]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Department of Social Protection use, or has it used in the past, test or sample cases when making decisions on individual applications or appeals?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. 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. The office is administered by the chief appeals officer. The chief appeals officer and her team of appeals officers are independent in their decision-making functions. As Minister, I need to be conscious of the independence of the office, its functions and the decisions it makes.

Deciding officers and appeals officers are required to apply the law on a case-by-case basis. All statutory decisions are bound by the relevant provisions of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and associated regulations. The legislation provides for a transparent and fair decision-making process in conjunction with the control of social welfare schemes. Every claimant is entitled to have his or her claim considered in the context of determinations of entitlement under the relevant social welfare legislation and in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Test or sample cases are not relied upon when making decisions relating to entitlements to social welfare payments.

I am informed by the chief appeals officer that the social welfare appeals office does not rely on test cases to determine the employment status of all workers in a sector. Every individual making an appeal always has the opportunity of having any evidence in his or her own case presented to and considered by an appeals officer.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has examined the Department’s approach to the determination of employment or self-employment on several occasions in recent years, most recently in 2022. This examination included reviews of cases which it selected at random. It was found that cases were determined on their own merits through the application of the criteria set out in the code of practice on determining employment status.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister spoke about the policy as it is now. In the social welfare appeals office decision 2022476, which is dated 20 January 2023, the appeals officer states that while test cases may have been used in the past, they were used in very specific and limited circumstances. That is not terribly long ago - it is about a year and a half ago. While the Department may not currently be using tester sample cases, it is clearly an acknowledgement they have been used in the past. When were test cases last used by the appeals office or by the Minister’s own Department?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I do not have a copy of what the Deputy is quoting from, but if the Deputy wishes to send it on, I will be happy to look at it. I am informed by the chief appeals officer the social welfare appeals office does not rely on test cases to determine the employment status of all workers in a sector.

Any individual making an appeal always has the opportunity to have the evidence in his or her case presented to and considered by an appeals officer. Every case is considered on its own merits. As I said in my initial reply, the Comptroller and Auditor General has examined the Department's approach to the determination of employment or self-employment on a number of occasions over recent years, most recently in 2022. The Comptroller and Auditor General's examination included reviews of cases selected at random and found that cases were determined on their own merits through the application of the criteria set out in the code of practice on determining employment status.