Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

According to replies to parliamentary questions, it is. The Minister is not doing enough and the waiting times will get longer.

The other point I ask him to accept is that given 40% of those appeals fail, and that many of those whose appeals do not succeed are entitled to supplementary welfare allowance, every month there is a delay in hearing appeals that costs the taxpayer €600,000. What is the Minister doing to put in place a modern public service in the appeals office that will deal with appeals in a timely fashion and why is he not attaching more urgency to this given the huge costs involved to the taxpayer, costs that could be avoided?

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