Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

There is a certain frustration that the Tánaiste is not hearing the reason why we are putting down these amendments. I know of a case involving someone who put in an appeal on 9 June for a disability payment. The person got a reply on 18 November stating that the time had elapsed, there had been an administrative problem and the person should submit a new claim. A total of five months was wasted for the person in that case. For five months the file was sitting on someone's desk. It was not examined for some reason or was put aside or whatever.

I accept the point made by the Minister to the effect that some cases can be complicated and that when extra information comes on board we need to allow the process to be gone through. Will the Tánaiste be more forthcoming? When a person makes an application for any social welfare payment, is the person advised to go to a one-stop shop, whether SOLAS or elsewhere, where someone could explain exactly what the person needs and how to approach it as well as assistance with filling in the form? This would mean fewer chances of people losing an appeal. If 56% of people get a decision on appeal then something is wrong somewhere. An applicant could have had problems at the beginning of the process in accessing the payment. Perhaps that could be examined. We should also examine some basic replies. Some administrative issues can be dealt with within one week but the person I have referred to had to wait for five months, only to get a reply stating that the reason was not because of the appeal or for medical reasons.

It does not make sense.