Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo what has been said by other members. When we were discussing the programme for Government, there were 15 Independent Deputies in the room and, no different from those here, we all raised the same questions that have been put to the Department today.

Despite Ms Faughnan's advice to the committee that these measures are in place, they are not. As my colleagues have stated, it is the case that throughout the country deposits from the community welfare officer are not available. I could give Ms Faughnan a list of persons who have been with community welfare officers and who have been sent to hospitals, sent back to the local authority and then sent, in the finish, to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for help. It is wrong for us to leave here thinking what was said is the case on the ground.

On top-up payments, it is true that top-up payment clients are told they are committing fraud. They are told they are breaking the law while the landlord gets clear. He or she does not want such a tenant in the place for fear of word of it getting back to the local authority or the Department.

Flooding is an issue with which I am familiar in my constituency. It is almost a joke how people access funding when their home is flooded. The paperwork, the questions they are asked and what they must deal with in the application process is unfair. If an area is prone to flooding and the local authority or the Government is putting in special funding, such as for flood defences, there should be a mechanism found so that if it happens again a certain amount of money is provided to those people without delay. As it is, delays in the process are having a detrimental effect on families. We all talk about mental illness. It drives people over the edge with the result that they become frustrated with the system.

On the role of community welfare officers, there is not any funding available. Ms Faughnan spoke a lot today about Dublin and Dublin 4. Homelessness is an issue outside of Dublin. It is not only occurring in the same areas. It is a big issue in other areas throughout the country and it is something that we should look at.