Social Welfare Appeals
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

I assure the Deputy that we do not want it to be that way. Way back in the spring of last year, our first Question Time focused on the domiciliary care allowance. I thank the Deputy for her interest. We have worked hard to try to make it as easy as possible. We introduced online applications. We are introducing an online appeals office, which gives people time in their own space to do that. We are constantly working to make it as easy as possible. The applications process is now online. Since it went online, just over 45% of applications have come in online, which probably gives an idea of the profile of the demographic applying. I am constantly focused on the issue. As I said, the waiting period for the domiciliary care allowance is 9.2 weeks for appeals. That was considerably higher prior to the focus that the appeals office has been putting on it. We had discussions last week at management board level as to how we could make the appeals process tighter for disability allowance, in particular. The amount of information that can come in on an appeal is quite extensive. That changes a lot decisions. To go through that information takes time. We are looking at how we can use our best processes to manage that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24