Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is Committee Stage. The reason we are ending up with problems such as this is because we have not had the ability to tease out where there are complications such as this. I am not argumentative, I am merely asking in a positive way, because the Department gets its money, that the Minister of State approach the issue. FLAC and others have said that in the past the supplementary welfare allowance was supposed to be at the poverty rate, which is the reason it was €186 and the full rate of dole was €188. That was changed. I would argue that we should go back to the other system but that is not what I am arguing here. I am arguing that if one is applying the 15% rate, one should not leave a person in a worse off position than they could be. The 15% rate needs to be applied at a different stage, not on the full amount, but after the other deductions have been made.