The Government has admitted that social welfare applicants are waiting for up to 84 weeks to have appeals heard and decided.
The details emerged in the response to a parliamentary question from former Labour TD Tommy Broughan.
According to the documentation, the average summary appeal period rose from 18.2 weeks in 2009 to 25.1 weeks last year.
However, if an oral hearing was required, the average waiting time rose from 34.8 weeks in 2009 to 52.5 weeks last year.
In a statement to RTE, the Department of Social Protection said that between 2009 and 2011, the number of social welfare appeals had increased dramatically from 15,000 a year to 32,000.
The Department acknowledged that this had led to unacceptable delays as a "catch-up" situation arose.
To reduce the backlogs, they had assigned 12 additional appeals officers and had retained retired appeals officers for 18 months.
The Department said it was also working more efficiently. As a result, it finalised over 34,000 decisions in 2011.
Before the current pressurised situation arose, the average processing time for a summary appeal was 14 weeks and 31 weeks for an oral hearing.
Last year, the growing pressure increased average processing times to 25 weeks for a summary decision and 52.5 weeks for an oral hearing.
However, the department stresses that by February of this year, the average for a summary hearing was 22.4 weeks, and 38.1 weeks for an oral hearing.
It also points out that the logistics involved in organising oral hearings to suit all the parties involved can also add to delay.
