Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I accept partially the Minister's first point. Unemployment has fallen in many areas, especially in Dublin where the Minister comes from. In places like Wexford and certain black spots, however, we are still in the dark ages and things are very difficult.

The processing time for appeals and their high success rate highlights that there is definitely something wrong. The Minister has probably seen that FLAC has pointed out that the fact that decisions on social welfare appeals are not routinely published means people appealing decisions are forced to work in an information vacuum and are unclear as to how cases are decided. FLAC also points out that people cannot access free legal aid for advice and assistance in what can be a complicated process. Am I right to say that the average waiting time for an appeal is approximately 20 weeks? Deputies from all over the country are forever putting in questions about this. I believe it is over 1,000 questions a year at a cost of €200 a go, which means that over €200,000 is being spent in that area alone. While the Minister says changing things is expensive, not changing them is also expensive.

See this speech in context