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

I have concerns about the use of agency staff and the definition of "agency staff". Perhaps one of the reasons there is a problem in recruiting additional staff is they are faced with a backlog and, therefore, a significant workload. It is obvious that there are not enough posts, given the huge backlog of medical assessments in the case of all social welfare benefits, not just carer's allowance and disability allowance. Some of the assessments are questionable, given that many of them have been overturned on appeal. This also raises a question.

I do not oppose recruiting people on a contract basis to deal with a backlog. Previously, there was a substantial backlog, for instance, in the social welfare appeals office and a number of social welfare inspectors were taken on using a specific contract to deal with the issue. When the Department goes beyond this, however, and begins to use agency staff, it is adding a cost because most agencies charge a premium of between 15% and 20% on top of the remuneration of the recruits. The experience in Britain of medical assessors is scary in the extreme. Atos was a company investigated by the BBC "Panorama" programme a number of years ago. The company set targets for medical assessors to drive down the number of people who could qualify for sickness and disability benefit. At the time The Guardianreported that 32 people were dying every week as a result of being declared fit for work in the medium term. People were being put under pressure to return to work or to at least sign off so as not to receive their disability or employment support payments.

I am not saying such a thing would happen here but it is a concern where profit is the motive, as is the case when one involves employment agencies. This is a highly skilled job and anyone who has dealt with social welfare applications or appeals will understand the complexity of the system. It can be very difficult for a person who sits behind a desk without seeing an applicant, but that sometimes happens. Not all medical assessors see the individual applicant but have to rely on scribbles from a consultant, which no one can make head nor tail of, and not all the medical records are available to the assessor. If there are vacancies, they should be filled through a public process in order that they are full-time positions. They should be re-advertised unless they are for short-term, specific contracts to deal with a backlog in dealing with applications for social welfare payments or appeals. I would, at the very least, delete two of the references to employment agencies in amendment No. 3. I will bring forward an amendment on Report Stage to give effect to that if the Minister of State's amendment is accepted today.