Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)

While errors can happen, this error was unfortunate because it affected recipients of the weekly retirement pension, carer's allowance, invalidity pension and lone parent's allowance. One cannot blame them for assuming they had received a bonus and proceeding to spend the money on various items at Christmas, as is the propensity at that time of year. It came as a major shock to them to learn that an error had been made.

The Department's handling of the issue was harsh, insensitive and wrong. Those affected received a letter on the Thursday following the payment informing them that they would not receive payment that day. Why could the additional payment not have been paid back at a rate of, say, €10 per week, as is the case with income tax moneys, particularly given that the people in question have been in receipt of payments over a prolonged period and the error was made by a computer in the Department? With money flowing in from all sources, it would have done no harm not to recoup the payment and instead give recipients an opportunity to spend money they probably should have received years ago.

What guarantee do we have that this error will not recur? Many individuals and families struggling to pay off post-Christmas debts and high household utility bills at this time of year were left in the lurch. Did many of those affected apply for social welfare allowance payments to bail them out because an error occurred and they genuinely believed they were entitled to the additional payment? The Department did not take cognisance of the fact that many people were in dire financial straits in the first week of January.

See this speech in context