Bulletin readers may recall the launch of FLAC’s report Not Fair Enough in October of this year. The report focused on reform of the social welfare appeals system. Click here to read.
On 7 November, Katherine Zappone and the independent senators put down a motion to reform the social welfare appeals system on foot of the FLAC’s report Not Fair Enough . The motion was voted down following a two hour long Seanad debate.
The motion put forward reasonable and practical proposals which would address some of the flaws in the appeals system. The motion included amending the appeals form to include the option to request an oral hearing, better resourcing at the initial decision stage to maximise cost-effectiveness and reduce unnecessary appeals, and making significant previous decisions available to appellants.
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD was present in the Seanad to answer the motion. She welcomed FLAC’s report but said that the Appeals Office was independent and had made progress on delays. She did not accept any of the proposals put forward.
Government Senators who spoke expressed sympathy with the motion and voiced concerns about the system yet voted against it.
Saoirse Brady, FLAC's Policy and Advocacy Officer, who authored the report and helped draft the Independents’ motion notes that “FLAC’s recommendations are not meant to be antagonistic – they are intended to help bring the appeals system to a minimum standard on issues like fairness, independence and transparency. We undertook our analysis of the appeals system based on our experience with helping people to bring appeals, where we learned just how unnecessarily complex, opaque and unbalanced the process is,”.
Ms Brady noted “It would be a shame that the sensible and practical measures suggested by the Independent Senators - who have no political axe to grind and should be commended for their initiative – are being ignored for the sake of politics.”