Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment. The 60 day is proposal is reasonable and should allow the vast majority of decisions to be made. A high number of decisions are overturned; I understand it is in the region of 30%. One has to ask if a bad decision was made in the first place which requires cases to go to appeal. Could administrative time be better used? A cohort of decisions could be reviewed to see why they were made. It is part of the origin of the delays.

I have received several replies to parliamentary questions from the Minister when I have tried to find out the average waiting times. The figures do not match the experience of people who come to me. I do not believe I am an outlier in terms of knowing a disproportionate number of people who are waiting a longer time for decisions. I use the Lotus Notes software which the Oireachtas has provided and catalogue every query which comes to me. If a lot of people come to me to raise a particular issue it prompts the questions I will ask.

I am not speaking from an anecdotal perspective. Rather, I am approaching this issue on the basis of the very real and very serious situations facing very many people.

Another area in which large numbers of appeals are being generated is where people's invalidity payments are being revoked. A constituent of mine, a 65 year old with emphysema who is barely able to walk, has had his invalidity payment withdrawn after being in receipt of it for eight or nine years. One might be forced to conclude that there are more miracles happening in the Department of Social Protection than in Lourdes. We are seeing people being taken off an invalidity payment who have a demonstrated need for it over a period of time. I am not saying there should be no reviews, but the question does arise as to what methodology is being used. Decisions are being made which are eventually, at significant administrative cost, being overturned by the Social Welfare Appeals Office. People are being put through absolute torture for the time it takes to obtain a decision.

Another issue I have encountered is where people's applications for a disability payment are turned down on the basis that they are adjudged unlikely to be ill for a year. After waiting a year for a result, a decision is then made in their favour because they have proved they were in fact ill for a year. I can give the Minister the names of people who have had this experience. What is going on in the Department when one can point to these types of situations? Are we generating appeals needlessly for some reason that is wholly unclear to me?

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