Social Protection | To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of social welfare appeals being determined on a weekly basis

To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of social welfare appeals being determined on a weekly basis; the number of appeals arising each week; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

I am advised by the Chief Appeals Officer that in 2021, 24,820 appeals were registered and 23,929 were finalised.  Of those finalised, 16,567 were decided by Appeals Officers, 6,462 were revised decisions made by my Department in favour of the appellant and 900 appeals were withdrawn.

The corresponding figures for January – April 2022 were 8,479 appeals registered and 7,779 appeals finalised.  Of those finalised, 5,430 were decided by Appeals Officers, 1,921 were revised decisions made by my Department in favour of the appellant and 428 were withdrawn.

The number of appeals on hand at the end of April 2022 was 7,253.

The attached table sets out the number of appeals registered and finalised in 2021 and for the period January to April 2022 and the average weekly statistics for both.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Annual and Weekly Appeals Statistics

Year	2021		January to April 2022
	Total	Weekly Average	Total	Weekly Average
Registered	24,820	477	8,479	499
Finalised	23,929	460	7,779	458
Appeals Officer decisions	16,567	319	5,430	319
Revised decisions	6,462	124	1,921	113
Withdrawn	900	17	428	25