Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On Deputy Joan Collins' final point, I am glad to hear the Minister is reintroducing those provisions which appeared in the Bill that went through the pre-legislative scrutiny process here. It is important that we will have sight of those amendments for a reasonable period before we come here to discuss them. This is a complex issue and we have had many representations about the amendments.

The Estimate before the committee is minor in the greater scheme of things when one is talking about almost €20 billion in expenditure. Some €1.5 million going from one Department to another does not seem significant in money terms. I have no objection to the transfer. It is a good idea to transfer those responsibilities to the Department with responsibility for social protection. I had a couple of general questions on the figures that we received which accompanied the proposal. I notice that in 2016, the total expenditure on social protection was €19.84 billion. In 2017, it was €19.854 billion. There is a €14 million increase. There have obviously been savings which are being spent in other areas, etc., but the overall increase is approximately €14 million. We welcome the improvements announced to social welfare in the budget.

In the output section of the document circulated to us, the processing time for non-contributory old age pensions and disability allowance is only approximately 75% of the target. What steps does the Minister propose to take to expedite that? People in those circumstances, looking for disability allowance and the non-contributory old age pension cannot wait for too long to have their claims processed.

The Minister might not have this information but I would appreciate if she could get it for me. I notice the figure for partial capacity benefit is €14 million. It seems low. How does the partial capacity benefit regime compare with the old regime whereby one could work for a number of hours? What is the expenditure on that? If the Minister does not have that information, she might get it for me. I am intrigued by the figure for control savings. It is €510 million in 2016 and €510 million in 2017. Will the Minister elaborate on that and indicate how effective the anti-fraud campaign, for want of a better phrase, has been in achieving the objectives stated by the then Minister, Deputy Varadkar? There are three issues at the bottom of page 37 relating to the proposed output for 2017. One is to prepare a paper on the total contributions approach for State pension qualifications. What stage is that paper at with regard to its publication? How much work has been done on the total contributions system? The other proposal is to develop proposals for activation for new jobseekers and to review the operation and performance of the local employment service providers. Will the Minister comment on where we are with those objectives?