An adjudicator for the Defence Forces has claimed it was “bizarre” that a dispute over allowances, paid to a soldier on a Department of Defence overseas training course, should have lasted 16 years.

Almost half of all applications for disability allowance last year were turned down, according to new figures.

Disability campaigners have expressed concern at the “culture of refusal” in the Department of Social Protection, citing the high rate of applications for disability allowance that are turned down.