Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 9, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “4.The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 14A (inserted by section 3):

“14B.Where an interview is held under this Act with the Executive the interviewee shall have the right to have another person present to support them and/or to advocate on their behalf.”.”.

This is a technical amendment but I believe it helps to strengthen the legislation. This is something to which Deputy Durkan in particular will be able to relate.

That is as follows. Where a person is being interviewed by the HSE, they should have a legal right enshrined in this legislation that they are entitled to have someone present with them at that hearing.

If people go to a social welfare hearing at the moment, they have the right to have an advocate present with them when going before the appeals board and the appeals office. That could be another family member or a public representative but they are entitled to have someone with them. We are asking people to go in before this office to be interviewed by the HSE, which has major financial implications for them and their families, and we are not giving them a legal right to have someone else present with them. I am asking that a clear provision be put in place so that when people are being interviewed, they have the right to have someone else present with them, just as is the case in the Department of Social Protection when people are before the appeals office.