Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Kirrane and her colleagues for their presentations on issues affecting people daily. In regard to Ms Kirrane's remarks, some members of this committee visited London during the summer. We met with different Irish groups and visited different Irish centres. Those were often centres where there have often not been high profile visits in the past. We were delighted to meet with so many people doing excellent work with Irish communities. I refer to centres that have built housing on a voluntary basis to provide housing for so many Irish emigrants. During that visit we also met with the Catholic chaplaincy in the Irish Centre in Camden. The priest there gave us a great outline of the issues that Ms Kirrane has also outlined so well and cogently here.

They are issues that need to be dealt with. All of us come across on a constituency basis the cases outlined by Ms McHugh, Ms McLaughlin and Mr. King. Regarding the habitual residency requirement, I have come across cases throughout my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan of people who emigrated decades ago and have perhaps come home to care for an elderly parent. These people have given up their jobs, have set out home again to live in their home parish and have been denied social welfare payments for so long because of the habitual residency requirement. It is very frustrating and annoying.

Another issue many members would raise with the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection concerns the delays in processing applications for different social welfare payments. The delay in approving and processing carer's allowance applications is totally unacceptable. I have put forward suggestions to the Minister and tabled parliamentary questions regarding the need to provide additional resources to those divisions in the Department that are stretched and where there are significant delays. In my constituency, officials from the Department do a very good job in straitened circumstances where they do not have adequate personnel to deal with the cases coming before them but that is not much good to the applicant who has no means and depends on the community welfare officer for assistance. If a person is not technology-friendly, he or she is disregarded by the State and State services. It is wrong that so many statutory agencies and other major corporations only transact business with a client or customer online. This is not acceptable because, unfortunately, there are people who do not have the skills or confidence to submit their applications through technology. Again, both statutory agencies and public utilities need people to answer the phone. It is utterly frustrating when people who often do not have the confidence to use technology are told to press "X", "Y" or "Z" button and yet end up talking to nobody. It is not acceptable. It is another form of bullying by major utilities and statutory agencies. I am glad the witnesses raised that point because it is extremely important and is typical of cases we come across on a daily basis.

I will bring in other members who have questions for the witnesses. We are very glad the witnesses are putting forward those issues and as a committee, we would be glad to pursue them with the various Government Departments on the witnesses' behalf. Other issues that have been brought to my attention regarding returning emigrants are the cost of car insurance, driver licences and the cost of health insurance.