Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right. It is hard to beat a face to face interaction. Many times applications are turned down because all of the information has not been provided and perhaps people are unaware that it was an important piece of information that would help make a decision on their application.

We were able to do some oral hearings and appeals online during Covid. We continue to use new technology to make our systems more efficient. As the Deputy has said, oral hearings are important. I do not have the figure for the number of hearings that are currently in the system with me and I will get that figure for the Deputy.

It is important we do that and that our customers are looked after and served in a timely and efficient way.

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