Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Broughan for acknowledging the improvements. Significant improvements have been achieved but I agree that there is still more to be done.

The workload of the appeals office has increased dramatically in recent years. It is the cause of the problem. The number of appeals received annually has increased, from an average of 15,000 up to 2009. Close to 32,800 appeals were received in 2013, down from 35,500 in 2012. The sheer volume of appeals because of the number of those looking to the social welfare system, some of which is as a consequence of the economic collapse, merely means that there are significant extra pressures on the system-----

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