Dr. Nat O'Connor:

On a technical point, the Irish welfare system is very much based on the British welfare system, which is a residual system - the idea that you means test people and give them just the minimum amount. That is how the system is designed whereas a lot of European systems are designed to give people a higher income. If they have given people "too much" income, they tax it back again. It is the integration of the welfare and tax systems where one can be generous with welfare because if somebody is given a high enough amount, they will pay some of it back in taxes and it balances out. Our system is really focused on means testing, which is a huge administrative cost and creates all sorts of anomalies and barriers. There is a different means test for housing and the medical card. People are worried; they get €5 on the pension but then they lose their access to a medical card. There is a constant administrative process to handle that. In other jurisdictions, there can be more generosity because the tax system is more robust to take back any excess. If one wants real structural change that would help us to eliminate poverty, that kind of integration would help so that money can be channelled to people who need it, knowing any excess money will come back to the State.