How to appeal a social welfare decision

If you think you have been wrongly refused a social welfare payment, you can appeal this decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

You must appeal within 21 days of the date of the decision letter. There is no fee for making an appeal.

Some social welfare payments are not covered by the appeals process (see ‘What can I not appeal?’ below).

You can appeal if you are unhappy about any decision of a social welfare deciding officer or designated person on a payment that is covered by the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

You can get a list of social welfare schemes and benefits covered by the Social Welfare Appeals Office (pdf).

The Social Welfare Appeals Office also deals with appeals for some payments under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme. However, it does not deal with some elements of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme such as the Additional Needs Payment, allowances in kind, or any other once off payment.

Some social welfare payments are not covered by the appeals process. This is because they are not set out on a statutory basis, for example, Fuel Allowance or the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.

There is no formal appeals process for these payments, but if you are unhappy with a decision on a payment not covered by the Social Welfare Appeals Process, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed by the section in the Department of Social Protection that dealt with your application.

Find a full list of schemes not included in the appeals process on gov.ie.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) operates independently of the Department of Social Protection. It provides an independent, accessible and fair appeals service in relation to entitlement to social welfare payments.

The Office is headed by a Chief Appeals Officer and has its own Appeals Officers who make decisions on appeals.

Your appeal may be redirected

In some cases, the SWAO receives an appeal and decides that the reasons for the decision were not fully understood by you.

In these cases, the SWAO will refer your appeal to the relevant scheme area of the Department of Social Protection and ask for the decision to be clarified to you. You are informed of this.

If you are still not happy with the decision following the Department’s clarification, you can appeal the decision to the SWAO.

Priority

In general, appeals are dealt with in the order in which they have been received. However, Supplementary Welfare Allowance appeals (including Rent Supplement) are prioritised.

The Appeals Officer may decide your appeal based on written evidence. This is called deciding the appeal summarily.

Time limit

You must appeal using the Notice of Appeal form (SWA01) pdf within 21 days of the date of the letter notifying you of the Deciding Officer or Designated Person’s decision.

In exceptional cases, appeals received outside 21 days may be accepted. If you are making your appeal outside of the time limit, you must explain why.

What to include

In your appeal you must:

• Say why you think the decision was not correct
• Include copies of any evidence and documents you want to be considered (you should keep your original documents)
• Enclose a copy of the letter you got from the Deciding Officer or Designated Person that informed you of the decision

The Deciding Officer must always give you the reasons for the decision in writing and the letter should be easy to understand.

You can request an oral hearing at this stage (see ‘What is an oral hearing?’ below).

How to submit your appeal

The quickest way to make an appeal is to appeal online with MyWelfare, if you have a verified MyGovID account.

Or, you can download and fill out the Appeals Form (pdf) and post or email your appeal including any relevant documents (for example, your decision letter) to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

You can also get a paper form from your Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office.

When the SWAO receives your appeal

The Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) will:

• Let you know that they got your appeal. You will be notified on your MyWelfare account if you submitted your appeal online, otherwise you will be notified by post.
• Let the Department of Social Protection know of the appeal. The Department must then send any relevant documents to the SWAO.

When the Department receives notice of an appeal, it reviews the original decision to decide whether it should be revised in your favour.

A decision is made

In some cases, new evidence is reviewed by a social welfare inspector, or by a medical assessor if the appeal is about a sickness or disability-related payment.

If the decision is changed by the Department at this stage, you will be told. The Department can only change the decision at this stage if the change is in your favour.

If the decision is not changed by the Department, your case will be examined by an Appeals Officer.

The Appeals Officer may decide your appeal based on written evidence. This is called deciding the appeal summarily.

Generally, the decision of an Appeals Officer is final. However, an Appeals Officer may revise their decision if new evidence, new facts or any relevant change of circumstances come to light after a decision is made.

If you don't agree with the Appeals Officer's decision

If you think there was a mistake made in relation to the law or the facts of the case, you can appeal to the Chief Appeals Officer. You will need to send them a written request for a revised decision and include the new evidence.

You should state the grounds on which you are seeking a revised decision and why you believe a mistake has been made regarding the law or the facts.

Appeal to higher authorities

If you disagree with the final decision of the Social Welfare Appeals Office, you can request the Office of the Ombudsman to examine your case.

The Ombudsman can:

• Examine complaints about the actions of the SWAO
• Investigate complaints about the everyday administrative activities of the SWAO.

You may appeal to the High Court on a point of law or seek a judicial review in the High Court if you think that the appeal was not fairly conducted. You should get legal advice in this situation.

If you are involved in an industrial dispute

If you are refused Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance because of an industrial dispute at your place of employment, you can contact The Social Welfare Tribunal.

The Social Welfare Tribunal provides a second level of appeal after an appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. However, you can also appeal directly to the Tribunal without first going through the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Your appeal may be heard at an oral hearing. This can be arranged either because you have requested one or because the Appeals Officer decided that this is appropriate for your appeal. Hearings are held in private.

You will be invited to attend this hearing. It is informal and you can bring a representative to the hearing with you for support or assistance.

A representative may include:

• A friend
• A colleague
• A public representative
• A trade union official

You can also bring legal representation.

If you live in Dublin or the surrounding areas, hearings are held at the Social Welfare Appeals Office (see address in ‘Contact details’ below).

If you live outside Dublin, hearings are held at a venue as near as possible to where you live.

There is no fee for making an appeal about a social welfare decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

If you have to travel to attend an oral hearing, the Social Welfare Appeals Office will compensate you for any reasonable travel expenses. You can also be compensated for any loss of earnings if you have to take time off work to attend.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office may make an award to a representative such as a solicitor if they accompany you to the oral hearing.

You can get help with making an appeal from your local Citizens Information Service.

Further information is available on the Social Welfare Appeals Office website.

Information and advice is also available from your:

• Intreo Centre
• Social Welfare Branch Office
• The Social Welfare Appeals Office