Joe Neville
Ceist:58. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection his Department’s current wait times on social welfare appeal decisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15648/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 26 February 2026
Ceisteanna (58)
Freagraí scríofa
As of end of January 2026 the average processing time for Social Welfare Appeals is 12.7 weeks.
An Appeals Modernisation Project to develop and implement new business processes was completed in Q1 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 to provide a more efficient and streamlined service for people availing of services and functionality on MyWelfare for making appeals.
New Social Welfare Appeals Regulations (S.I. No. 744 of 2024) came into effect from 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 along with measures 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 time taken to process an appeal includes all aspects of the appeal process. This includes referring the appeal contentions and any additional documentation provided back to the relevant scheme area of the Department for review. A significant proportion of cases are revised by the Department in favour of the appellant during the review process. Where the first instance decision is not revised in favour of the appellant, the appeal is then considered by the Appeals Officer which may require the holding of an Oral Hearing.
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.