Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll:

I do not have the exact timing on the appeals. It is true there is a backlog of appeals in the system and it is a fairly large backlog. Although I do not want to add to public sector whinging that one gets about this, there are staffing limits within the Department, as everywhere else. The Department is 35% smaller than it was in 2005 and it is doing many more jobs. That affects all of our offices and out-offices and our appeal system. There is a backlog and we try to move it along.