Mr. Christopher Bowes:

On the Deputy's first point, FLAC will certainly be willing to provide any information that has come into our phone line in terms of the number of people who have raised concerns around that requirement. I am sure the Department would also be happy to provide any information the committee may want to request from it.

On the second point about the airport checks, and again this is something about which people have come to FLAC and described their experiences, it seems these checks not only are being conducted in a manner which raises data protection concerns but are also being carried out in a way that goes beyond what is allowed under the Act. There was no basis for these people to be questioned nor was the inspectors’ certificate of appointment provided to those who were subject to these questions. There is a further concern around fair procedures in that people’s social welfare payments seem to have been summarily cut off after these checks with no notification to them or fair procedures of any kind.

The additional concern is around the social welfare code in the context of a number of payments, such as jobseeker’s allowance, supplementary welfare allowance and the Covid PUP up to 5 August. The primary legislation does not create a situation whereby those payments are not payable simply on the basis of someone being absent from the State for a very brief period. I note that the kind of information the Department was gathering was merely evidence of someone leaving the State. It was not asking questions as to the reason for those departures from the State or to the extent which or the length of time the person was going to be absent from the State. There are a number of concerns about the airport checks.