Consultation
Public Consultation on Important Changes to Social Welfare Appeals Regulations
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Open for submissions from
Submissions closed
Last updated on
Consultation is closed
Decisions relating to a person’s entitlement to social welfare payments are made by staff in the Department of Social Protection. These staff are known as Deciding Officers.
If a person does not agree with a decision made by a Deciding Officer they can ask for a review of that decision by the department. They can also appeal the Decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is responsible for checking if the decision made was correct. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is a separate office within the Department of Social Protection. The right to appeal is set out in law.
This law is set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act (2005) and in Regulations made under this Act by the Minister for Social Protection.
These laws set out how appeals should be processed by a separate office within the Department of Social Protection. This office is known as the Social Welfare Appeals Office. It was established as a separate office following recommendations of the Commission on Social Welfare.
The Appeals Officers who work in the Social Welfare Appeals Office are appointed by the Minister to carry out appeals. One of them is appointed as a Chief Appeals Officer. The Chief Appeals Officer has overall responsibility for managing the appeals process. The Chief Appeals Officer makes an annual report on the activities of the Chief Appeals Officer and Appeals Officers. This report is presented to the Oireachtas each year.
Most of the detail relating to the procedures to be followed in managing appeals are set out in Regulations, which are legally binding rules made by the Minister.
The current set of Regulations date back to 1998 and 2011. Since then, there have been changes which impact on the operation of the Appeals Office.
In addition, a number of reviews have been carried out on the operation of the Social Welfare Appeals Office, – both internal reviews and a review carried out in 2021 by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. A number of changes to how the Appeals Office operates were implemented during the COVID pandemic. These changes include remote working and the use of remote hearings.
As a result of these developments, it is proposed to make some changes to the Regulations.
The purpose of these changes is to:
- provide for greater transparency in how appeals are processed,
- provide for greater rights for people making appeals including:
- a longer period of time in which to submit an appeal,
- a right to request an oral hearing,
- a right to be given reasons for appeal decisions.
- provide for an obligation on the department to provide information relating to an appeal to the Appeals Office within a three week timeframe.
- provide a role for the Appeals Office in giving feedback and guidance to the department.
- provide for additional management functions for the Chief Appeals Officer – including with respect to quality assurance.
These changes should:
- give people who make appeals more certainty about the time periods that will apply to their appeal,
- allow people wo make appeals to get more information about how their appeal is being dealt with,
- improve the operations of the Social Welfare Appeals Office,
- improve the quality of decisions – both by department’s Deciding Officers and by Appeals Officers.
The proposed changes are set out in a draft new regulation.
These are the main changes:
At present people must submit their appeal within 21 days from the date of the letter telling them about the decision on their claim. This will now be 60 days. A late appeal will be accepted up to 180 days if there are good reasons for the delay.
The department must review the decision being appealed and if it is not changed, the department must give all information relating to the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office within 21 days. If the information is not given within the timeline, the Appeals Officer can go ahead with making a decision. In many cases this should shorten the time taken to deal with an appeal.
A person appealing a decision may be asked to provide additional information. If so, they will be asked to provide the additional information within 21 days. This time period may be made longer if needed. If a person is not answering requests for information, then the appeal can be withdrawn.
The decision of the Appeals Officer and the reasons for it must be sent to the person appealing within 15 days.
Appeals where medical conditions are important will either be decided by an Appeals Officer who has medical expertise or by an Appeals Officer who has asked for the opinion of a medical doctor. An appeal about a person’s capacity to work or need for care will be decided by an Appeals Officer who is a registered medical practitioner or by an Appeals Officer who has looked for the opinion of a medical assessor. If the Appeals Officer makes a decision that does not agree with the opinion of that medical professional then they must give reasons.
Many appeals are straightforward and can be decided based on information provided by the person making the appeal.
However, in some cases, an oral hearing can help a person making an appeal to expand on information and explain why they believe a decision needs to be changed.
At present people making appeals have no right to request an oral hearing.
Under the new regulations a person appealing a decision will be entitled to ask for an oral hearing by an Appeals Officer. The Appeals Officer will have to consider the request and if they do not agree to an oral hearing they will have to give a reason why the oral hearing is not going to be held.
If a person appealing does not attend an oral hearing the Appeals Officer will be able to decide whether to make a decision without a hearing or take other actions to get information that will allow him or her to make the decision.
There will be some changes to the functions of the Chief Appeals Officer which are to make the role clearer and make it easier to manage the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
The Minister for Social Protection is offering people an opportunity to have their say on these draft regulations.
- The proposed new regulations are here.
- A document which sets out each of the changes proposed and explains the rationale for the change is here.
- A document with the primary law for social welfare appeals (which is Part 10, chapter 2 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005) is here.
- The current regulations from 1998 and 2011 which give details on how the law on social welfare appeals is implemented is here.
Before sending your views, please read the privacy information below.
You can email your submission to AppealsConsultation@welfare.ie or send it by post to:
Social Welfare Appeals Regulations Consultation,
Social Welfare Appeals Office,
D’Olier House,
D’Olier St,
Dublin 2.
D02XY31.
The closing date for the receipt of submissions is 19 May 2023.
After looking closely at the submissions and responses, the Minister will decide on the changes to be made. After that, the operation of the regulations will be kept under review to ensure that the appeals process continues to be fit for purpose.
This is a public consultation and the Freedom of Information Act 2014 applies.
Personal information should not be provided and any personal information which you volunteer may be published. Any material which you do not wish to be made public should not be included.
The information provided in your submission will be shared with officers of the department, with any personal data redacted.
The department may publish any submissions received under this consultation on www.Gov.ie, and a full list of those who make submissions may be included as an appendix in any reporting that emerges from the consultation process. Any personal data will be redacted.
Any non-personal information received by the department included in submissions may be released under the FOI Act. Should a request for this information be made, the department will consult with you before making a decision should it be required to disclose it. Again, any personal data would be redacted in line with FOI legislation.
Submissions will be retained until the consultation process, including the implementation of the new regulations has been concluded.
The department’s full Privacy Statement and Data Protection Policy are here.
