Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Just so the Deputy understands, there has been an enormous expansion in the number of appeals. The Deputy is probably aware that in 2009 the former Fianna Fáil Government reduced the illness benefit period, which had previously been unlimited, to two years. The consequence is that many people who were in that system are now reaching the limit of their illness benefit. This is one factor that has increased the number of appeals.

The actual reduction in times this year is because of new practices and the extra staff I appointed as soon as I became Minister. However, those extra staff have to be trained. We launched training for deciding officers shortly after I became Minister, so up to now there has been a reduction in processing times of ten weeks, and summary decisions are also now at a fairly high level.

There is one unique feature of the Irish system, which is that people can make multiple applications in regard to the same set of circumstances. We do not tell people that they must provide all the information immediately because we allow them to submit extra evidence. Very often, for example, we get a letter from a GP stating "I support this applicant's request," but that does not really constitute evidence for the deciding officer. The person might then go to someone like the Deputy and be advised that he or she needs a stronger statement that relates to medical evidence to back up the application, and perhaps to get other advice as well, and we allow that information to be resubmitted. This is one of the reasons appeals have been taking so long: many people who lodge an appeal do not initially provide all the information pertinent to their cases.

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