Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

When the budget was announced last week, the choir on the Government benches clapped because they thought it was a great budget for people on social welfare but it was not. Stealth taxes have begun and next week local authorities will send a letter to people on social welfare to have them reassessed for their council houses. This will see more money taken from increases in social welfare.

The family income supplement, FIS, is a scheme for people whose salaries do not match what they would receive through social welfare. Do employees at the Department of Social and Family Affairs make phone calls anymore? Could the Minister of State call some of these agencies to see why they no longer answer calls from the public? I know people who have been waiting up to six months for their FIS applications to be processed. It can take 16 to 18 weeks to have it renewed and I ask the Minister of State to have her officials call the Department to see if they get through. I think Mr. and Mrs. Voicemail will answer and no more will be heard from the Department. I want this investigated immediately because people on low incomes should not have to wait 16 to 18 weeks for FIS to be renewed and six or seven months to have a case processed. The Department staff are receiving benchmarking in their salaries and people on low incomes should not be forced to wait so long for FIS.

People wait months for appeals relating to carer's allowance and I have raised this matter with the Department on several occasions. People apply for carer's allowance because they are looking after a loved one in need of full-time care. When there is an appeal relating to the carer's allowance, the carer is supposed to bring the loved one with them, but nine times out of ten this is not possible because he or she is too sick. The appeals officer should visit the home of the person seeking carer's allowance because it is not being assessed with regard to the carer but the person in need of care. I have raised this matter in the committee over the years and I want the Department to examine it. There is no point wasting taxpayers' money bringing in appeals officers who receive travel expenses while also bringing in the carer. The problem is that, nine times out of ten, the decision is that the individual does not need full-time care. How can the appeals officer make a decision when he does not know the circumstances of the individual involved? The appeals officer should visit the home of the sick person. I have raised this point before and will continue to do so until the matter is addressed.

Last night, I raised the issue of public transport and now I wish to address free schemes. Older people in rural areas receive the free travel pass but it is of no use to them because there is no public transport. People should be given vouchers for taxis because that is the way of the future.

The Health Service Executive, HSE, will not take sick and old people to hospital appointments so they must now get up at 5 a.m. to take a bus at 7 a.m. They then must wait all day to be taken home again. This is a scandal at a time when so much money is available to the Government.

I wanted to address various social welfare anomalies regarding widows and others but have no more time.

See this speech in context