Mr. John McKeon:

The Deputy raised two issues. One was the issue of someone who was on a payment having the case reviewed and being taken off the payment. It is very rare that happens. It is very unusual. If the Deputy has examples, I would be very happy to have a look at them. That is very rare as it is generally the case that to get onto the invalidity pension payment, a person will tend to have a very profound medical condition. It is very rare that happens, albeit it is not to say it never does.

With regard to appeals, the Deputy is right that approximately 60% of people who appeal a disability or invalidity related decision, which is approximately 1% of those who get a decision, which is the context in which this must be considered, get a favourable outcome. The appeals office then sends the file back to the Department for another look and it is at that stage when most of them get the favourable outcome. Generally, it is because people have provided additional information which was not available to the Department the first time. We have worked with disability activation groups and carers. We have developed a new form which is getting positive and negative feedback. On the one hand, we are accused that the form is too long. On the other hand, the Carers Association feels it is as long as it needs to be to ensure all the information required to make a first-instance decision rather than a second-instance one is captured. We are continuing to work to try to improve the quality of the information available. Our medical assessors are not like Attila the Hun, they are trying to look realistically and objectively at each case. It is frustrating for them when someone presents with a bare characterisation from a GP on a particular illness whereas subsequently a full consultant's report is provided which puts the whole thing into perspective.