Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Whoever wrote that answer should leave the Civil Service and get a job as a spin doctor. I asked a question on the average processing time. The Minister then said if one takes out the most protracted cases it is not as bad as it looks. The Minister gave us the figure for the overall average processing time, which is the issue. The protracted cases are part of the problem. The Minister cannot take them out and then tell us things are not as bad as they look because they are.

Which payment types attract the most appeals? Are they also the ones which are the most successful? For example, what percentage of carers allowance appeals are successful? The Minister pointed out yesterday on Committee Stage of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill that only 2% of cases are appealed. My concern is that almost 50% of appeals are partially successful or are successful. That means there is a real problem with the initial decisions which are made. Sometimes there more information is provided, but we need to have a system in place which ensures that people know what information to give in the first place.

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