Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I share the concerns of Deputy Butler about the importance of social insurance for the self-employed and we have had some excellent reports on the subject. It would be helpful, however, if some of the small firms organisations would indicate their position because, until very recently, they have indicated a lot of opposition as opposed to support. The Deputy has been very helpful in having dialogue with these people and I am quite supportive of this.

What we have tried to do with the Intreo offices has been transformational. Many people have said to me how surprised they were at how well they were treated, although I am not saying everything is perfect everywhere. Physically, the offices are significantly improved in terms of the working environment for staff and the development of IT has enabled a significant reduction in the level of paper files all around the place, which threatened to overwhelm the offices in the old days. If inspectors can carry their files on a laptop, with suitable encryption, they do not have to carry vast volumes of paper files and can do much more work. We are trying to build up a professional esprit de corpsamong staff and we recognise that staff in social protection have, at times, a difficult job as the office is probably the last place people would have wanted to visit.

I had an outstanding experience of meeting people who graduated sometime around 2008-2009, and who had done everything right. They did not plan to visit a social welfare office but they could get absolutely nothing, including any experience. In many cases, they were not even getting replies to their inquiries because they lacked experience. The feedback on the whole Intreo system has been very positive but we still have a lot to do in terms of educating people. For example, with returning emigrants, we are subject to the broad European Union HRC rules. If somebody has lived in Germany for three or five years, he or she might be a bit surprised to be asked questions when he or she returns home. There is much additional communications work that we should do. Some of the EU rules, in terms of things like HRC, are very demanding, not least on our own people returning home. We are set up for older people returning home to Ireland. We have set up a lot of solid relationships with Irish emigrant centres where they exist, particularly in the UK but also in other countries, including in the United States.

In regard to Deputy Harrington's comments on the tracking system, that is certainly something we can look at as the IT develops - for example, having access to where one stands in terms of one's social welfare contribution history. If a person retires next year, what would he or she be entitled to? If someone dies next year, what would his or her spouse be entitled to, if anything? These are important questions for people and for rural families where there may be a mix of farming and employment. We would be happy to work with the committee on this. Some of those developments are dependent on resources. We are just walking, not running as yet, in terms of the increased resources. In terms of increasing the resources we can allocate, the whole business of getting people back to work is so important because it frees up money for pensioners, for children and for the kind of people in fixed income scenarios who do not necessarily have the ability to go out and earn.

In regard to the carer's allowance, I meet the Carers Association several times a year. It is an area in which I am very interested. Like many members, I have a lot of personal experience as well as political experience of this. Carers are of tremendous value to Irish society and, indeed, to the HSE. The committee might invite Ms Teresa Leonard, assistant secretary at the Department of Social Protection, who oversees much of the IT transformation in the Department. Ms Leonard's contribution could be of particular value to the committee in this respect.

Last year I recommended to Government a small increase in the living alone allowance and that is certainly something we will keep under review.