John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government committed to providing an accessible and user-friendly welfare system. In that context, I want the raise the issue of social welfare appeals over the past several years. I recently tabled a parliamentary question requesting the number of such appeals made in 2017 and 2018 and how many were successful. Approximately 20,000 appeals are made every year, of which 67% are successful and 33% rejected.

Why is there such a high number of successful appeals in the system? One would think that, when dealing with the most vulnerable in our society, we could treat them equitably and deal with their original applications in a timely manner.

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