Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What we have is a situation where one consultant or medical professional is overturning the decision of another. This, effectively, is what is happening when the medical examiner looks at the case. For example, I go to my consultant who knows me, has a relationship with me and completely understands the nature of my complaint. That could then be overturned by somebody who never meets the applicant, who never interacts with the applicant and who is making a decision against the applicant. It has always been thus, and maybe it is time for us, given that the Minister is reforming in nature, perhaps to look at this again. There are three very particular schemes for which thousands of people make applications where decisions are made on medical grounds on the basis of what is arguably a desktop exercise. If the Minister saw fit to look at that again and perhaps review it, that would be very helpful.

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