Would the Minister agree that the present appeals system is totally unsatisfactory for another reason also which arises, first of all, from the incredible complexity of the social welfare code which rivals that of the income tax code? Would he agree that this means, in effect, that an unfortunate appellant, to whom such an appeal can be very important, who may be inarticulate and not in a position to understand the conditions applicable to a situation, has to appear before an appeals officer and is incapable of presenting his appeal without some assistance. It is very important, in the interest of justice, that technical assistance should be provided to an appellant to brief him or her on what are the issues, what evidence they would need to call or produce to an appeals officer. Is the Minister prepared to organise such assistance on the part of officers in his Department to unfortunate people who must appear as appellants before an appeals officer?

I am prepared to consider the Deputy's suggestion in the light of the review. One problem may well be that people do not always realise their right to an appeal at the appropriate time. The hearing of appeals, judging from results, would certainly appear to be very fair. Indeed, that is what the Commission on Social Welfare found. I will bear in mind what the Deputy has said.