Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for providing that information. She will appreciate that we are operating under a disadvantage, however. She referred to a schedule that has been circulated. We will probably receive a copy in our e-mails at 6 p.m. It is unfortunate that we do not have the advantage of seeing the figures to which she referred.

I ask for an indication of the number of staff in the appeals office who took up the retirement scheme by the end of February 2012. Did any appeals officer leave during that period and have staff numbers decreased?

The issue with which we are most concerned is that the 40 weeks, or nine or ten months, involved in an appeal for oral hearing must be added on to the six months it takes for a case to be assessed in the first place and the two or three months required to complete a review. The cases then come before the Department's appeals office, where they wait for nearly a year. We are regularly told by the appeals office that it is waiting for the file to be sent from the Department. The Minister spoke about technology. I cannot understand why, once the appeal has been submitted, the file from the local office is not sent to the appeals office within seven days. It regularly happens when a file comes in that one writes to the Department, which chases down the file and assembles it as if it is a great big package which must be delivered. It appears that information technology is not used. It is essential that the process be speeded up.

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