This note discusses two recent Irish High Court decisions which concern when a social welfare appeals decision can be revised and when an oral hearing may be held as part of the social welfare appeals process. It would appear that the claimants (or their legal teams) were seeking to establish when an oral hearing should be held. However, the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) – having originally decided both cases without an oral hearing – proposed to reconsider the appeals with an oral hearing after judicial review proceedings were initiated.