Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Further improvement needs to be introduced immediately. What has happened so far is not working. I have already cited the example of Boyle. The five towns with the longest waiting periods, Edenderry, Navan and Tuam, at 15 weeks and the other two at 13 weeks, have been at the top of the list for at least the past six months. I know Edenderry particularly well. There has been no dramatic factory closure there since last summer although there have been small and steady closures and rising numbers. Printing out one's form on-line and so on is all very well but the Minister needs a sea change in the operation of this service when unemployment is rising so rapidly. The Minister said in response to an earlier question that supplementary welfare payment is paid for only a week or two. It must be paid out in these instances for much longer. In Boyle, it has obviously been paid out for 19 weeks because otherwise people are living on nothing.

The Minister will probably tell me that the average waiting time is six weeks and only two weeks in Ballymun but that is no comfort to the people in Boyle, Edenderry or Bandon. How will the Minister make changes now, particularly in these areas?

I met a social welfare officer the other day who has been out sick for nearly a fortnight. That person is responsible for means testing and all of those files are building up in her absence. Nobody is dealing with them while she is out sick. She will probably have to go out sick again a few weeks after her return to work to recover from the stress she will face. What kind of system has nobody to fill in the gaps when people get sick or go on maternity leave? We all accept that happens. Private sector employers must accommodate that. The social welfare system must accommodate it too.

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