Mr. John McKeon:

On the last one, people who do not have a fixed abode or address are entitled to social welfare and we work with them. For example, in Dublin we have a dedicated unit, called the homeless persons unit in Gardiner Street, which is very active in working and ensuring that people who are homeless and rough sleepers in particular - it is not a term I particularly like - can access welfare benefits. Around the country our Intreo centres and community welfare service staff will work with people who are rough sleepers and make sure they get their benefits. We also fund a lot of community and voluntary groups in terms of food parcels and all these kinds of things through what is called the feed programme. So, we provide a range of services.

On disability and the one the Deputy mentioned, I cannot talk about an individual case, but on the issue of access to disability payments, we never challenge the diagnosis of a person's GP or consultant. The test is whether that person is capable of performing work with that illness or disability. That is the test. We have more than 30 well-qualified occupational medical doctors, including some consultants, who review cases. They determine and recommend whether a person is capable of work or not. I do not know about that particular case, but all those cases can also be appealed. If that person has a difficulty, they can appeal that case.

On community employment, there should not be, but I know there always are vacancies in community employment because there are gaps - frictional kinds of vacancies. We have 68,000 people who are long-term unemployed. We have 21,000 places on community employment, of which about 20,000 are currently filled. The level off vacancy of one over 20 is approximately 5%, which is what one gets in any business. There will generally be 5% vacancies at any point in time. If there are difficulties in a particular community employment scheme, the Deputy should let me know and we will follow them up because I am sure there are candidates.

I will follow up on the pensions issue and come back to the Deputy. If it is a non-contributory pension, there might be an issue. If that is the claim-----