Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their responses to the issues. It is a very welcome development that it is being enshrined in regulations that an appellant can seek an oral hearing and can have a justification for any refusal as of right.

I have two brief supplementary questions. Will an in-person oral hearing remain the default? I have absolutely no difficulty with appeals officers seeking a remote oral hearing if the appellant wishes to have one and is prepared to accept it. However, the default should remain an in-person meeting because, as I have said, the vast majority of cases that Members deal with relate to the broad spectrum of disability and it is very hard for some applicants to properly articulate their arguments orally over Zoom. A physical meeting should be the default.

An issue that has been presented to the committee is that the requirement for appeals officers to flag with management that they wish to hold a physical oral hearing is causing a chilling effect within the appeals office. We do not want to see that happen because it is important that, where they are appropriate, oral hearings are facilitated on every possible occasion. Will the Department give consideration to both of those points?