56. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection whether his Department has reviewed the processes of eligibility assessments, appeals, and administration which disabled people must undergo to access supports. [67516/26]

My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently.  The ambition to process applications and reviews quickly must be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent, of high quality, and made in accordance with the legislative provisions, and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice.

Operational processes, procedures, and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised, and repeated requests for information are minimised to avoid any undue stress to the customer.

As part of the Department’s programme of service delivery modernisation, a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology, have been implemented in recent years including enabling people to apply for support through the online service on MyWelfare.

In addition, the staffing needs of the Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources.

New Social Welfare Appeals Regulations (S.I. No. 744 of 2024) came into effect from Monday, 28 April 2025.  The purpose of these regulations is to modernise and streamline the social welfare appeals process, providing greater clarity, improved consistency, and more defined timeframes.

An Appeals Modernisation Project to develop and implement new business processes was completed in Q1 2025.  The purpose of the project was to streamline and enhance the end-to-end appeals process for the customer.  The new system provides online capabilities on MyWelfare which provide a more efficient and streamlined service for people making appeals.

This change supports the end-to-end electronic processing of appeals and provides a secure, comprehensive, online appeals service for customers.  It is improving the customer experience by offering an additional online channel, facilitating 24/7 access to view their current appeal status which has helped improve communications with appellants during the appeals process.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.