Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister has referred previously to the review by a deciding officer before an application would reach the stage of an appeal. I wonder if anything more can be done in that respect. For instance, in many cases where an application for carer's allowance is refused, a simple telephone call or an explanation of the information that is missing would probably prevent the application having to be appealed in the first instance. Can more be done at the early stage of the processing of applications before the stage of appeal? This would help to reduce the waiting list.

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