TOTAL of £32,610 has been spent by the Department of Social Development in the last three years on hiring a venue in Enniskillen for holding appeal tribunals.

The appeals are held for those who have been refused Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and/or Employment Support Allowance (ESA) with £503,453 spent on venue hire across Northern Ireland.

In the same three year period £9, 543,998 has been spent on expenses for panel members, with Lord Maurice Morrow suggesting that figure equates to £530,222 in Enniskillen alone.

The DUP MLA sought the figures from his colleague Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey “due to the vast amount of ESA and DLA cases coming through my office which are refused.” Lord Morrow told Stormont Files: “I remained concerned at the number of constituents effectively forced to appear before a panel of people and undergo an oppressive, intrusive experience to prove they are disabled and in ESA cases, unfit for work.

“My concern is for the applicant who takes the refusal on-board and either opts for appeal, with all the stresses which accompany it, or abandon the process completely. This is to the detriment of a person who may well both deserve and require the benefits in order to survive with an illness or disability.” Discussing the costs for tribunals, Lord Morrow said: “With 18 tribunal districts that makes an average of £27,969 per district over the last three years, putting Enniskillen almost £5,000 over the typical expenditure.” “What is clear, is the drop in the number of appeals, which had been reflected in the costs of venue hire and panel members’ fees and expenses. This is a welcome development as not only were the costs outrageous, the necessity of the hearings in many instances, was questionable,” he said.