Foilsiú
Appeals Procedures
Ó Oifig na nAchomharc Leasa Shóisialaigh
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
The statutory procedures in processing an appeal are set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and the Social Welfare (Appeals) Regulations, 1998 and 2011.
When a decision is made by a Deciding Officer/Designated Person of the department, any person who is dissatisfied with that decision may, by giving notice of appeal to the Chief Appeals Officer within the statutory time limit, have the decision referred to an Appeals Officer.
A person making an appeal is entitled to know fully the basis on which the initial claim was disallowed. This should be set out in the decision letter from the department.
There is no charge for making an appeal.
To make an appeal you can download and fill out the form below and email it to swappeals@welfare.ie or print and fill out the form and post it to:
Social Welfare Appeals Office, D'Olier House, D'Olier Street , Dublin , D02 XY31.
The appeal must be made within 21 days of the date of the letter notifying you of the Deciding Officer's/Designated Person’s decision. An appeal made after that period may be accepted with the approval of the Chief Appeals Officer.
The Chief Appeals Officer will have regard to the causes and reasons for the delay as well as the length of time that has gone by since the notification of the decision of the Deciding Officer/Designated Person and the notification of appeal.
The appeal must have the facts and reasons for the appeal. The appeal must include whatever documents the appellant wants to have considered in support of the appeal.
Every notice of appeal received in the Office is acknowledged.
A person may withdraw the appeal at any stage by giving notice to the Chief Appeals Officer. An appeal will be deemed to be withdrawn where the indications are that the appellant is no longer pursuing the appeal and the appeal has effectively been abandoned.
The Chief Appeals Officer must notify the department of an appeal received. The department must then give the Chief Appeals Officer a statement, by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer/Designated Person, on the facts and contentions in the appeal. Any information, document or item in the power or control of the Deciding Officer/Designated Person that is relevant to the appeal must also be provided.
The department will review the decision and may undertake further investigation of any new facts or evidence in the appeal, for instance by a Social Welfare Inspector. In the case of a claim to a sickness or disability related payment, the department may arrange a further examination by a Medical Assessor.
It is open to the Deciding Officer/Designated Person of the department at this stage to make a revised decision on the question at issue but only if such a revised decision would be in favour of the appellant. Where a revised decision is made at this stage, effect is given to it by the department and so the appeal is thereby resolved and withdrawn.
If the decision of the Deciding Officer/Designated Person is not revised, the documents are sent to the Chief Appeals Officer for referral to an Appeals Officer. An appellant will be advised of any additional evidence against his or her case which comes out of such further investigation and will be given an opportunity to comment on it.
Notice that an appeal has been submitted is issued to any other person who appears to be concerned, that is a person with a material interest in the case . An Appeals Officer may call witnesses who might be in a position to furnish evidence in relation to the appeal.
On receipt of a submission from the department, the appeal is referred to an Appeals Officer.
The Chief Appeals Officer may, where she or he considers it appropriate, refer any question which has been referred to an Appeals Officer to the High Court for decision. This is only where complex points of law are involved.
The Chief Appeals Officer may certify that the ordinary appeals procedures are inadequate to secure the effective processing of an appeal and can direct that the appellant submit the appeal to the Circuit Court for determination. If the appeal relates to a decision made by an officer of the Criminal Assets Bureau the Chief Appeals Officer must direct that the appeal be submitted to the Circuit Court.
An Appeals Officer may ask any relevant person to provide further information on the appeal and may allow amendment of the notice of appeal and of any statements made.
Where the Appeals Officer is of the opinion that the appeal can be determined on the basis of the documents available and without the need for an oral hearing she or he may determine the appeal summarily.
Where the Appeals Officer considers that an oral hearing is required to determine the question at issue, she or he will arrange for an oral hearing of the appeal.
There is no absolute right to an oral hearing and a request for an oral hearing will not be given in all cases.
In practice, in forming an opinion as to whether an appeal can properly be determined without an oral hearing an Appeals Officer will have regard to:
- the overall nature of the appeal and the question to be determined
- any request that has been made for an oral hearing
- whether there are unresolved conflicts in the documentary evidence presented by the parties as to any matter essential to the determination of the appeal
- whether there are any disputes as to the facts or differing professional opinions
- other relevant factors
As an Appeals Officer may determine an appeal on a summary basis it is important that all the documentary evidence and grounds relied on are submitted with the notice of appeal.
An oral hearing may be held virtually (by video call online), in person or by phone. An in-person hearing will be held where the Appeals Officer thinks it is necessary.
A notice of an oral hearing is sent to all parties concerned.
The appellant will normally attend the oral hearing and may be accompanied by a member of his or her family or, with the consent of the Appeals Officer, by any other person.
An appellant may also, with the consent of the Appeals Officer be represented at the hearing by a member of his or her family or by any other person.
Appellants should make any arrangements considered necessary in preparation for the oral hearing. as scheduled hearings will only be re-arranged in exceptional circumstances. It is also important that appellants provide all evidence considered relevant to the appeal in a timely manner.
The Deciding Officer/Designated Person who made the decision may attend or they may be represented by another officer of the Minister. Any other person whom the Appeals Officer considers should be heard may also attend . Every effort is made to keep the hearing as informal as possible.
If a person has to travel to attend the hearing, the Appeals Officer will arrange reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence expenses and compensation for any loss of earnings.
The costs of professional representation at an oral hearing are not paid. However, the Appeals Officer may make an award in regard to such representation but only in respect of the representative's actual attendance at the oral hearing.
Oral hearings are held in private and the aim is to keep the proceedings as informal as possible. However, the Appeals Officer may, if she or he thinks it appropriate, take evidence on oath and administer oaths to persons attending as witnesses at the hearing (Section 313). The recording of an oral hearing is not permitted.
The Appeals Officer will introduce him/herself and all other persons present. She or he will also say if there are other people he or she intends to call to give evidence during the hearing. The Appeals Officer will outline the Deciding Officer's decision against which the appeal is being made, the grounds of the appeal and the department's response to these grounds. Evidence will be taken from any witnesses.
At the hearing the appellant is afforded every opportunity to set out his or her case and to question any evidence offered by witnesses. Alternatively, his or her representative, should he or she have one, may do this on his or her behalf.
In a small minority of cases the Appeals Officer may be compelled to postpone or adjourn the hearing. This might be necessary if, for example, a crucial witness is not available or some additional evidence requiring further investigation is introduced at the hearing. The Appeals Officer may agree to defer consideration of the appeal to give the appellant the opportunity of obtaining some further evidence in support of his or her case, for example a Medical Consultant's report.
Where a person fails to attend an oral hearing, the Appeals Officer may take such steps as she or he considers appropriate to determine the appeal.
An Appeals Officer may, by giving notice in writing, require a person to attend an oral hearing and to produce any relevant documents. A person failing to comply with such a notice is guilty of an offence and, on summary conviction, may be fined up to €1,500.
Following his or her consideration of the appeal, including evidence given at the oral hearing, the Appeals Officer will normally be in a position to make a decision within 2/3 weeks of the hearing.
The decision of the Appeals Officer will be in writing and, where the decision is not in favour of the appellant, will explain the reasons for the decision.
A notification of the decision will be sent to the appellant and any other person concerned. The decision is sent to the department at that stage for any necessary action.
The question before the Appeals Officer for decision is the same question as was before the Deciding Officer/Designated Person who made the initial decision. The Appeals Officer is not confined to the grounds on which the initial decision was based and she or he may consider the question as if it were being determined for the first time.
In considering the appeal, the Appeals Officer will have regard to all relevant evidence including the supporting material. This material may include reports of departmental Investigating Officers and Medical Assessors, the grounds of appeal including any documentation submitted with it and the submission by or on behalf of the officer who made the decision. Other documentary evidence could consist of correspondence from an employer as to the occurrence of an occupational accident or in regard to how a person's employment terminated. The Appeals Officer will also have regard to any facts emerging from the presentation of evidence at the oral hearing.
The conditions underlying entitlement to benefit are contained in provisions of social welfare legislation [the Social Welfare Acts and Regulations made thereunder] and the Appeals Officer must apply this legislation to his or her findings of the facts in determining the question under appeal. Some issues may involve the application of other legislation or case law - such as whether a divorce might be recognised as valid or whether the conditions of an employment are as an employee or self-employed person.
Case law used consists of Irish Courts judgements and of decisions by other courts acknowledged in Irish courts judgements.
Some appeals may involve issues which had not hitherto arisen and the decisions of Appeals Officers in those cases may provide guidance were the same issues to arise again, subject, of course, to the merits of individual cases.
The (published) annual report of the Chief Appeals Officer to the Minister contains summaries of cases determined by Appeals Officers and reviews of decisions of Appeals Officer carried out by the Chief Appeals Officer , which the Chief Appeals Officer considers would be helpful in construing particular aspects of legislation or in making findings of facts based on particular circumstances.
A decision of an Appeals Officer may be revised by an Appeals Officer in the light of new facts or new evidence brought to attention or if there has been a relevant change of circumstances since the decision was given (Section 317).
A decision of an Appeals Officer may also be revised by the Chief Appeals Officer if it appears to her/him that the decision was erroneous by reason of a mistake as to the facts or the law (Section 318).
In either case, the person concerned should submit a written statement of the grounds on which a review of the decision is sought. In all procedures, principles of natural justice are fully adhered to and, if such a review would have a material interest for some other person concerned, such other person will be afforded an opportunity to comment.
The decision of an Appeals Officer is in general final and conclusive (Section 320), subject to appeal to the High Court on a point of law (Section 327) or review as described above. An Appeals Officer’s decision may be subject to review in light of new facts or evidence (Section 317) or by reason of a mistake in relation to the law or the facts (Section 318).
It is also open to any appellant to seek a judicial review of a decision in the Courts if she or he feels that a decision is deficient for want of fairness of procedure.
If you remain unhappy with our response you can also refer a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is fair, independent, and free to use and can be contacted by:
- Clicking on the ‘Make A Complaint’ link at ombudsman.ie
- Writing to: Office of the Ombudsman, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773 or
- Calling the Ombudsman on 01 639 5600 if you have any queries or if you need help making your complaint.
When an appeal is received in the appeals office it is registered and the processing time is measured from that date. As required by regulations, the appeals office then notifies the department that the appeal has been lodged.
That notification requires that any file or documents relevant to the appeal is forwarded to the appeals office and also seeks a submission from the Deciding Officer/Designated Person on the extent to which the facts advanced by the appellant are admitted or disputed.
At this point in the process, the department reviews the original decision to decide whether it should be revised in favour of the appellant. In some cases, this may involve a further review of new evidence by a Medical Assessor or a Social Welfare Inspector.
All this activity takes time, but it also affords the appellant many opportunities to strengthen their case along the way. In a significant number of cases it saves time as the appeal can be resolved without the need for it to be considered by an Appeals Officer.
Where the decision is not revised by the department, the file with the appeal submission is returned to the appeals office and added to the files awaiting assignment to an Appeals Officer. Given the volume of appeals and in order to be fair to all appellants, the assignment of appeals is generally dealt with in chronological order.
The only exceptions to this are Supplementary Welfare Allowance (including Rent Supplement) appeals which are prioritised for attention as soon as the file and submission is received from the department.
When a case is assigned to an Appeals Officer, he or she will examine the documentary evidence presented and consider if the appeal can be properly and fairly decided on a summary basis. Where an oral hearing of the case is required, it is estimated that the logistics involved can add another 6 weeks to the process as the hearing venue must be scheduled and the appellant is generally given 2-3 weeks’ advance notice.
At any time during this process, up to and including the oral hearing of the appeal, an appellant can submit additional information, which affords them the opportunity to strengthen their case.
The Appeals Officer will consider the evidence presented and decide and record the appeal decisions. The appellant will be notified of the outcome of the appeal and the file will be returned to the department for implementation of the decision.