Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy gave an excellent example. Those are the type of barriers we are breaking down in the total reform of the Department of Social Protection and the one-stop-shop relating to the Intreo offices where each section of the Department knows what the others are doing. Hopefully, that will start breaking down those barriers. I have visited a number of Intreo offices and have seen the barriers referred to by the Deputy. There are many other barriers because it was a disjointed service based on the county. The fact that services are based in the one office means that the left hand knows what the right hand is thinking. We are working on those barriers and taking them out of the system. The example given by the Deputy is a good one but that is the example we hope the Intreo offices will take out of the system. We will have that one-stop-shop and will know that 15 people are attending a jobs club and all we will need at a later stage is a certification that they attended such a club. It is a great example of how we see the proper operation of the Intreo offices taking those barriers out of the system.

The Deputy has a point about having to wait for the refund of €600 from Revenue. We must break down that silo thinking between the Revenue Commissioners and the Department, as well as every conceivable barrier that prevents people from going back to work. The Deputy and I have the same intention.