The social welfare appeals office is responsible for considering and determining appeals of first-instance decisions of the Department's deciding officers in relation to people's social welfare entitlements. The appeals service is designed to provide free-of-cost access to a second opinion by an officer at a senior grade within the Department. Prior to submitting an appeal to the appeals office, applicants also have the option of seeking a review of the decision by the relevant section in the Department. Those appointed as appeals officers are required to be independent in their decision-making functions.
The current number of appeals officers working in the appeals office is 65, four of whom are work-sharing, and three deputy chief appeals officers. The number of appeals officers working in the appeals office in 2024 was 44, four of whom were work-sharing. There were also two deputy chief appeals officers. The number of appeals officers working in the appeals office in 2023 was 44, with five work-sharing and two deputy chief appeals officers. The number of appeals officers working in the appeals office in 2022 was 43, with three work-sharing and two deputy chief appeals officers. The increase in the number of serving appeals officers during 2024 reflects the measures the chief appeals officer has put in place to deal with the increased volumes of appeals to be processed. Twenty additional staff were assigned and attended training in December and January. They have now been appointed as appeals officers and are making decisions.
The implementation of a new IT system last year, which includes an online option for submitting appeals, makes it easier for customers to lodge appeals. New appeals regulations have been signed to come into effect from April this year which provide for simpler processes and specified response times. These should help to further reduce processing times.
The backlogs are a matter of concern to me. That is why there has, as stated, been a lot of investment in additional appeals officers. A new IT system went live in November 2023. This facilitates an online capability to provide a more efficient and streamlined service for people who are making appeals. At end of 2024, a new update provided functionality on mywelfare.ie for people to make appeals. This new feature supports the end-to-end electronic processing of appeals and addresses some of the issues. It has reduced the administrative burden of validating and registering appeals. In addition to the appointment of new appeals officers at the end of 2024, this will begin to make a very big difference in the context of waiting times.
The new appeals regulations have been signed. They will also simplify the process and give more specified response times. The chief appeals officer has assured me that she is monitoring processing times and that they are making every effort to process appeals. However, the drive for the kind of efficiency that the Deputy and I agree on has to be balanced in order to ensure that decisions are consistent and of a high quality. We also endeavour to acknowledge that many people availing of the service do not have electronic capabilities, so we still rely on a lot of old-style communication to strike a balance to allow individuals to access the service in a manner that suits their specific circumstances.