Chief Appeals Officer

Elaine Quinn is the Chief Appeals Officer of the Social Welfare Appeals Office. Decisions relating to a person’s entitlement to certain Social Welfare payments are made by staff in the Department of Social Protection. These staff are known as Deciding Officers. If a person does not agree with a decision made by a Deciding Officer they can appeal the Decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office is responsible for checking if the decision made was correct. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is a separate office within the Department of Social Protection.

As the Chief Appeals Officer, Elaine has overall responsibility for the Social Welfare Appeals Office, managing the end to end delivery of the appeals service to customers. Supported by a staff of approximately 100, she ensures appropriate processes and procedures are in place to provide an accessible, efficient, transparent, fair and timely service to appellants. Elaine also has a number of statutory responsibilities and powers under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act.

In addition, Elaine has responsibility for the Decisions Advisory Office, which ensures that all decision makers in the Department have access to appropriate guidance and support in carrying out their decision making functions. This helps ensure that decisions made on social welfare claims are aligned with the legislation, are consistent and of good quality.