Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their attendance and concise, professional presentations. We received their full documentation in advance. Special needs assistance in schools is becoming more difficult, and for children with autism, with pressures on the education budget. The witnesses might comment on that. I am beginning with the younger people. Getting people with disabilities who are leaving school at the age of 18 into some work placement is becoming increasingly difficult. There are restricted budgets in the HSE regions for that.

On the issue of housing, people need modifications to their houses owing to disability. For example, a person who has had a stroke might no longer be able to go up the stairs. Obviously the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government grants through the local authorities have been reduced. It is getting harder to get payments and councils have to ration them. Instead of giving the maximum grant they are trying to give a bit of a grant to more people. While this assists more people, those people might not be getting what the occupational therapist has agreed is necessary.

I have come across many cases of people who were on disability or illness benefit for two years. Their health has deteriorated in the two-year period, at the end of which they are informed they are fit for work. The Department of Social Protection does not need to touch headline rates to reach its budget targets this year and next year; it just needs to continue cutting people off entirely, with which I totally disagree. Some 90% of people have no cut in their payments but 10% will have a 100% cut in payment. The most common issue I have faced is that of people on a disability or illness benefit who find themselves being cut off. Suddenly someone at a desk has decided that they are miraculously fit for work, although they have not been fit for work for the previous two years and in many cases their health has deteriorated. I ask the witnesses to comment on the matter as I am finding it an epidemic. I can well understand how the Minister might meet her budget reduction by continuing to cut people off, if my constituency is anything to go by.

I thank the representatives of the ICMSA for their presentation. Coming from a rural constituency, I appreciate all the points they make. They referred to the young trained farmers stamp duty relief and said that a person should not have to spend 50% of his or her normal time working. I would be concerned that that could be extended to part-time and hobby farmers if it were overdone. That is not the purpose of the scheme and I would not like to see that happening.

I agree with the ICMSA on the need for tax relief on the purchase of milk quota. It will be essential in the period ahead and for investment in processing facilities. Everybody understands the change in circumstances.

Mr. McCormack said the new rural development programme needed to be adequately funded. Is he talking about the funding that goes through the Leader companies at the moment? Some of the local authorities, with the county enterprise boards, are taking these over and they will end up being subsumed into council activities, which is my main concern on the issue.

On the local property tax, Mr. McCormack is right to be concerned that by September 2014 individual local authorities can decide to increase the rate by up to 15% in the following January. That is of concern and we hope that in advance of the local elections all parties will make a commitment not to do that. However, I cannot agree with the ICMSA proposal that self-employed individuals should be provided with an additional option for paying the local property tax with their preliminary tax returns in October. There is not a chance of that. If everyone needs to pay it in March, no sector should be allowed an extra six months. That kind of provision for the self-employed has caused problems in the past. Self-employed people, including farmers, had accounts one year in arrears. They were then required to pay preliminary tax. I would not subscribe to allowing the self-employed to pay their property tax at a later date. While it might be populist within the ICMSA, it cannot expect those on PAYE and social welfare to pay it while farmers and other self-employed people are not required to pay it for another six months.

My final comments are for the representatives of the Free Legal Advice Centres. I ask them to give some detail on the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Earlier today representatives of the National Women's Council of Ireland appeared before the committee. The budget in the past two years specifically targeted women and children and I ask the witnesses to outline how that comes into it.

Ms O'Sullivan mentioned not recovering money from people below a minimum subsistence level. What weekly figure does she have in mind? She mentioned the reasonable living expenses now used by the Insolvency Service of Ireland. At the moment someone on jobseeker's allowance of €188 might for some reason owe the Department money for a previous overpayment. While the Department is right to recoup the money, the figure for recoupment has increased to 15%, which is approximately €30. That amount can be deducted from the person's payment without his or her consent, although he or she can agree to a greater deduction if he or she is able to pay. That brings the person's income down to €158. How does that tally with FLAC's figure? While I accept that people who may have over-claimed must pay that money back - I am not suggesting otherwise - €30 can be a significant amount.