Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As regards the number of appeals on disability, at the beginning of 2013 there were over 4,000 appeals on hand. By the beginning of 2014, a year later, that figure had gone down to just over 3,000. That was a fall of 1,000. I am happy to say that as of 1 September, the number has dropped to 1,700.

We operate an open-ended repeat review system. We have been looking at the letter that is sent out and people have a legal right to enter an appeal. Very often, as Senators know, they will come to a public representative after they have lodged an appeal. Deputy Ó Snodaigh and I have discussed this matter on a number of occasions. They would be much better off getting better medical evidence on their condition. There are a lot of new Deputies in the House this session, so I keep telling people to leave the appeal until the last minute.

We have a facility, particularly in a serious case, to withdraw the appeal if the amount of evidence that has become available is more significant. The office does that regularly. It should be remembered that the appeals process is a legal one. It is like planning appeals - once one goes into that process one is better off having pre-planning discussions so that one has cleared out all of the difficulties and one knows the mind of the local authority on planning. Similarly, I would strongly suggest to members of the joint committee to get that additional information that may make the difference for people to lodge an appeal. Some doctors, even though they may be much loved by their patients, do not give very detailed information that sufficiently supports the claim a person is making. That is the factual situation.

I am delighted to say that the number of appeals on hand has fallen dramatically. However, if it is a question of introducing fresh information that the Senator experienced in this area, as I know she has, I would seek to withdraw the appeal and have a fresh review instead.