Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Much of the ground has been covered and I will bring in Deputy John Brady after I say a few words on the Minister's presentation.

I commend the Minister on her work on pensions, particularly in trying to address the anomaly that was there. In fairness, everyone in this committee worked with the Minister as well in a constructive fashion. It is nice to see that work is being implemented now and there is a timeframe around it, and there is certainty and that continues to happen.

In terms of the live register, it is remarkable that it continues to reduce at such a rate. That is testament to the policies that have been introduced by successive Governments since the crash.

In terms of our success as well, many Irish people who emigrated at that time are coming home. I am engaging with those people because they are encountering problems. For example, there was a lady in my office the other day who came home to look after her mother. She had been living in Dubai for a number of years. Her Mam now is sick with cancer and she will be her carer. The question of habitual residency will come in the way. Obviously, she will apply for the payment and, hopefully, be her mother's carer. There are so many other issues arising with the habitual residency clause, for example, trying to get a driving licence, if one is coming back from abroad. It needs to be looked at, particularly as there is a shortage of skilled labour in this country. Irish people face barriers coming home. Maybe that is something the Minister would look at.

I would certainly support the issues raised by Senator Butler about the self-employed. I recognise the work that has been done by the Minister, Deputy Doherty, and the former Minister, and now Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, in terms of introducing supports for the self-employed. I would encourage the Minister to continue that momentum into the forthcoming budget as well.

It was grossly irresponsible, in my view, for any journalist to take up a story on the Christmas bonus and I welcome the Minister's comments here today. It is wrong that she had to make them. There were calls to my office today about this issue and we should not have been in that position. However, I welcome the fact that the Minister has brought certainty to that issue.

The Minister might try to address a few of those matters for me.