Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A fact of law is where someone believes the law was not applied properly, or believes the facts were not properly reflected and the decision does not stack up in the face of the facts that the person presented or does not stack up in regard to the application of the law to the decision. In that case, at present, people can appeal it to the director of the appeals office. Under this new system, they can appeal it to this new review panel that we are setting up on a matter of fact or a matter of law. There is also the capacity, where someone believes that circumstances or the facts have changed, to seek a review from one of the other appeals officers on the appeals board. The person is not taking it to the director, as is the case at the moment, or to the new review panel that we are setting up. Before people go to that stage, they are actually seeking a review of the appeals officer’s decision from another appeals officer who did not make the original decision. The person is seeking that review on the basis that he or she believes circumstances have changed or facts have changed, not that the facts were wrong in the first place but that they have actually changed.