Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The problem also arises from the quality of the information supplied. If a doctor writes a letter stating, "I support this case," is that of much use in reaching a decision?

We have organised information sessions for Members and their staff to assist them in advising applicants.

We will probably run some more in the new year. The quality of the information that goes into this in the beginning is critical to a person getting a fair decision where they make the best case possible and produce all relevant evidence.

To set up a database for the 28,000 cases is an enormous undertaking. We do not have the financial or staff resources to do that at present. We would have to remove all the names and addresses because people have asked for anonymity. All the personal information would have to be removed such that not even a family member could recognise the case. Equally, examining anonymous cases could also be misleading given the wide range of variables between the circumstances of different individuals and where the slightest variation between circumstances might mean a different conclusion would be arrived at. There is a need to strike a balance between achieving effectiveness and efficiency in administrating the system and the need to ensure fair and equitable access for customers. The chief appeals officer publishes a number of case studies in her annual report which serve to clarify the process by which the appeals are determined. They are widely reported in the media and the advocacy service has begun to report the kinds of cases it has been supporting in terms of advocating for people's access.

Senators raised the issue of amending the appeal form to allow people to request an oral hearing. The chief appeals officer is examining that. Having regard to the volume of cases, we need to be clear about creating expectations that an oral hearing would be granted even in cases which, by their nature, should be decided on a summary basis such as in the case of a person who does not qualify for the basic provision or he or she does not satisfy a means test if the payment is mean-test based. People are notified at the outset of the appeal that the appeals officer may decide to hold an oral hearing and that the purpose of the hearing would be to allow the appeals officer to obtain more details about their case. People are also informed that the appeals officer may decide there is sufficient information available to decide their case without recourse to an oral hearing. At that point, and bearing in mind what I said at the outset, it is possible for people in the Irish system to then bring in fresh evidence if, for instance the medical evidence has been very weak or only general.

I appreciate that several Members mentioned the fast-tracking of cases. Perhaps we should distinguish between cases where there is severe impairment, severe mobility issues or in disability cases where there are severe issues in terms of the disability the person is experiencing. That would not be popular with everybody and I want to be clear about that. The experience of people who have various kinds of disability is subjective to the individual. One person's experience of a particular kind of disability may be very important to that individual whereas other people may feel that on the scale of things it does not rank as highly as somebody with a very serious impairment. Senators might give some thought to that because I would be very interested in their views on how to decide which cases are deserving of a fast-tracking process. We all have some thoughts as to how that would be done but it would be helpful to have some ideas from Senators as to how it might be done.

Progress is being made but the degree of dependence on social welfare in the country at this time because of the lack of employment is very severe. Some 300,000, or 16%, of the population of working age are on some kind of disability, illness or invalidity payment. That is very high percentage compared to most European countries. It will give Members an idea of the volume and scale of people who look to the Department of Social Protection for income support. It is not only jobseekers who seek support, people seek support in regard to illness and other misfortunes that have befallen them. The social welfare system is there as a safety net. Under it we spend ¤20.5 billion. We are seeking to make that system as friendly and as efficient as possible for people. We have an appeals system because not everybody qualifies for what they wish to apply. We have sought to make the appeals system as fair as possible but we do not have extra resources. The reforms taking place in the system involve, to be honest, doing more with less.