Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 18 January 2024
Public Accounts Committee
Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 37 - Social Protection
Social Insurance Fund 2022
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022
Chapter 13 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 14 - Ex gratia Payments of €1.4 million to Social Welfare Branch Managers
Chapter 15 - Raising Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 16 - Recovery of Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 17 - Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund
9:30 am
Mr. John McKeon:
We deal with them at both levels. There is a representative body for them and we find that very useful rather than dealing with 56 people. There are 56 separate arrangements and each person is entitled to it, a bit like social insurance. We deal with them individually but they have a representative body. We think it is reasonable to deal with that representative body. We are very clear that we do not negotiate rates with that. We cannot do that legally but we certainly consult the body, take its views into account and we set the rate.