Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the Deputy is correct to say that after the period of recession and economic crisis, poverty and youth unemployment increased. They have also been falling in recent years as a consequence of the recovery. In fact, youth unemployment has pretty much halved in the last couple of years. I am sure it was an omission, but the Deputy did not quite acknowledge that.

Over 1.7 million new claims were processed in 2015, 85% of which were awarded. The number and outcome of appeals finalised must be considered in this context. Of the 25,406 appeals finalised in 2015, 58.8%, or 14,946, were successful. However, this does not mean that the initial decision was incorrect. An appellant may submit additional information which allows the Department to revise its decision without involving an appeals officer. Of favourable appeal decisions in 2015, 35%, or 5,200, resulted from revised decisions. Where decisions remain unchanged, the appeal proceeds to an appeals officer who will accept evidence at all stages of the process and this may impact on the decision. The appeals officer may also gain insights at oral hearing into the appellant's circumstances which lead to a favourable outcome. The appeals officer's role is to examine entitlement as if for the first time, not to check that the original decision was valid. The officer looks at cases afresh. Given the degree of subjectivity in some scheme criteria, it is reasonable that a second decision maker might make a different decision to the first.

The publication of appeal decisions would be a vast undertaking requiring the allocation of significant resources. This would undoubtedly have a knock-on effect on how long it would take to process appeals. In 2011, the courts found, given the significant costs and questionable benefits involved, that there was no duty on the appeals office to publish a database of decisions. However, the chief appeals officer publishes a sample of decisions in her annual report to clarify the process by which appeals are determined.

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