Mr. John McKeon:

I take on board everything the Deputy has said. He is repeating many of the points that have already been raised and we have indicated we will have a look at the role of the public representative and whether we can make it explicit. If we can, we certainly will.

The Deputy made a point about the legalistic nature of matters and I fundamentally agree with everything he said. We are seeing it in the Department. There are a number of legal firms who seem to specialise in taking cases and operating on the basis that they only have to be lucky once. We are seeing that a lot. They are insisting, for example, that appeals officers sit almost as judges. Witness statements have to be sworn and there must be cross-examination. If we get into that space - and the Deputy mentioned deciding officers - it will have a chilling effect. Most of our deciding officers are clerical officers. If they were to be put on a bench and cross-examined by a barrister about every decision, it would have a chilling effect on how decisions are made and the speed at which they are made. That is one of the reasons we emphasise in the regulations a de novoapproach. Appeals officers treat a case as if it is being looked at for the first time and on the basis of all the facts and evidence, rather than trying to challenge the decision the Department took or the medical assessor originally recommended. Appeals officers are looking at cases with fresh eyes. They are not looking to prove that the Department or the appellant were wrong. The appeals officers are looking at cases afresh, which will help to reduce this legalistic type of stuff that is beginning to go on and is of concern to me. There are definitely some legal firms that are operating on the basis that they only have to be lucky once. They are not winning any cases. They dragged Mr. Molloy and his predecessor to the High Court but very few, if any, cases have been won. Those firms are operating on the basis that if they win one case, it will mean a big payday. That is not where we want to be. It would be detrimental.