Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank her for her positive and open engagement with the committee. It is important to recognise the huge progress that has been made in terms of reducing the live register figures. The Minister said in her opening statement that there was a 50% reduction from 2011 to now. The numbers are still high enough and there remains much work to be done on them, but it is important to recognise the work that has been done. That work has led to a position whereby increases in the weekly payments to pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and jobseekers can be made. Those increases will come about this week.

I refer to community employment, which a number of members have raised. The Minister has said she will perhaps tweak the scheme. There are issues around people who are eligible. Some people would like to stay on in a community employment scheme, but it is regarded as a training scheme as opposed to an employment scheme. The Minister received a delegation from Clare County Council on this issue. The delegation, which included supervisors on community employment schemes, left the Minister with some proposals to bring about changes in community employment that would have a positive impact. I refer to little tweaks that would enable people to stay on schemes longer, or make people eligible. The Minister might inform us if she has looked at that question. When will she be in a position to make an announcement on that?

I welcome the additional placements for the rural social scheme, RSS. That scheme has a massive impact on rural Ireland and on a county like County Clare, so I very much welcome that.

Something that concerns me are the processing times for the carer's allowance. A period of 14 weeks is a long time for someone who is waiting for that payment and who is providing a service to a person. Does the Department have a target to reduce that processing time for this year? It is important that we would have one. I recognise the Minister's work in addressing the anomaly that was there in the State pension. The compromise position the Minister has reached is a sensible one and it has been recognised by Age Action Ireland and by people who have campaigned for it. I recognise the Minister's work in Cabinet to bring about that solution. It is a workable solution and I welcome it.