DocMuse is a private, paid service run by The Muse Technology EOOD (Bulgaria). It is not a government website and is not connected with gov.ie, Citizens Information, the Courts Service or any other public body. It is not a firm of solicitors and is not regulated by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority or the Law Society of Ireland; its documents are not legal advice.
Request for a review of a social welfare decision (Ireland)
Ireland · in English
€2.00This document is sold blank, to print and complete by hand.
Made for use in Ireland
Fill in the form
This document is sold blank, to print and complete by hand.
- Instant download after payment
- Backup link emailed to you
- No account needed
For someone in Ireland who disagrees with a Department of Social Protection decision on a payment such as Jobseeker's, Illness Benefit, Disability Allowance or Carer's Allowance. It asks the Deciding Officer to review the decision, with new facts or evidence. A review has no time limit, but it does not replace an appeal: the free SWAO1 form, or the online appeal, must reach the Social Welfare Appeals Office within 60 days, and you can do both. Post it by registered post (An Post) or hand it in. Sold blank, as it may hold health data.
- Made for use in Ireland
- Last updated November 3, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- Your social welfare payment in Ireland was refused and you think the decision is wrong.
- The Department of Social Protection cut your payment and you have new evidence.
- Your Carer's Allowance or Disability Allowance claim was turned down.
- You want the Deciding Officer to look again at a welfare decision.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Town and county (e.g. Ennis, Co. Clare; or Dublin 8)
- Sender's Eircode
- Date
- Recipient
- Recipient's address
- PPS number
- Social welfare payment (e.g. Jobseeker's Allowance)
- Date of the decision
- Summary of the decision
- Grounds
- Date you appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (blank if not)
- Phone
- Attachments
Common questions
- Should I ask for a review or appeal a social welfare decision in Ireland?
- You can do both at once. A review is a fresh look by a Deciding Officer of the Department, usually because of new facts or evidence, and has no time limit. An appeal goes to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office, free, on the SWAO1 form or online, and has a time limit that a review does not stop. If the review succeeds, you can withdraw the appeal.
- Older forms say 21 days to appeal: which time limit is right?
- For decisions notified on or after 28 April 2025, the appeal must reach the Social Welfare Appeals Office within 60 days of the date you were notified (Social Welfare (Appeals) Regulations 2024). The Chief Appeals Officer may accept a later appeal where there was reasonable cause for the delay, but not after 180 days. Older forms, leaflets and forum posts still say 21 days.
- What evidence helps a social welfare review succeed?
- Evidence the Deciding Officer did not have: a new medical report or a consultant's letter, payslips or bank statements, a letter from an employer, a carer's diary, or proof of a date that was wrong. Explain in your own words which fact in the decision is wrong and why. Citizens Information, FLAC and the INOU give free help with reviews and appeals.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Freedom of Information request (Ireland)
For anyone who wants records held by a government department, council, the HSE, a public hospital, university, An Garda Síochána or another FOI body in Ireland. A request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014, addressed to the body's FOI officer, describing the records and the form you want them in, and asking for a decision within four weeks. Making a request is free; many bodies also take requests by their own email or online form. Send it by email or by registered post (An Post).
- Letter of authority to deal with an organisation for you (Ireland)
For anyone in Ireland who wants a relative, friend or carer to deal with their bank, energy or phone company, landlord or another organisation for them: a signed letter naming the person, the accounts or matter, and whether they may only discuss it and receive information or also give instructions. It lets the organisation share your personal data with them, and you can withdraw it at any time. Many organisations have their own free form; use that if they ask. It is not a power of attorney.
- Letter of consent for a child to travel abroad (Ireland)
For a parent or guardian in Ireland who is not going on the trip: a signed letter consenting to the child travelling abroad with the other parent, grandparents, a school or another family. Immigration officers and airlines may ask for evidence of the absent parent's consent, and there is no State form for it. The letter names the child, the trip and the dates, and gives your phone number so that it can be checked. Give it to the adult travelling, with a copy of your passport. A child's passport application uses the Passport Service's own free consent forms instead.
- Statutory declaration (Ireland)
For anyone in Ireland asked by a bank, an insurer, an employer or a public body to confirm facts by statutory declaration — a lost document, a change of name, living together, an address. You write the facts in numbered paragraphs; the document adds the closing words and the attestation that the Statutory Declarations Act 1938 sets out, for the person who takes it to complete. You sign it in person before a commissioner for oaths, a notary public, a peace commissioner or a practising solicitor, with your passport or national identity card unless they know you. It cannot be signed electronically.
- Complaint to your insurer about a claim or policy (Ireland)
For a policyholder in Ireland whose insurer has refused, underpaid or delayed a claim, cancelled a policy or charged unfairly — car, home, travel, health or other insurance. The letter is a formal complaint under the insurer's complaints procedure and asks for the reports its decision relied on. Under the Central Bank's Consumer Protection Code the insurer acknowledges it and gives a final response; after that, you can go free to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. Send it by email or registered post (An Post).
- Chargeback request to your card provider (Ireland)
For someone in Ireland who paid by debit or credit card and did not get what they paid for — goods never delivered, faulty or not as described, a refund never paid, a payment taken twice — and could not settle it with the trader. The letter asks the card provider to raise a chargeback under the card scheme's rules and to answer in writing. Many providers have a free online dispute form that does the same job; ask the trader first.