Parents face 16-month wait in welfare appeals

PARENTS awaiting appeals on social welfare applications now face a wait of up to 16 months for a decision, it has been claimed.

It follows official confirmation that approximately 33,000 appeals were lodged in 2010 after initial claims for social welfare were turned down.

The launch of the Barnardos’ manifesto for children yesterday heard that for the Domiciliary Care Allowance alone there is a backlog of 800 applicants as of last week, with the appeals system taking up to 16 months to be processed.