Ms Niamh O?Donoghue:

The application process is very comprehensive but it is desk-based in the first instance. It is absolutely reliant on the amount of information and evidence that is provided by the person making the claim, from wherever that might be. Whether it is medical or non-medical, the person is invited to give as full a spectrum of information as he possibly can. That process has been upheld in a court case. There is no automatic assumption that there should be an in-person assessment, provided the assessment is seen to take into account the full range of evidence provided.