Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Section 14 extends this provision to include periods of residence in an institution, as defined in Section 12 of the Bill. Under existing provisions, a social welfare inspector may, if accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána, in uniform, stop a vehicle and question anyone in the vehicle where the inspector reasonably suspects that it is being used for employment or self-employment. Section 15 extends these provisions to provide for similar checkpoints operated by social welfare inspectors and customs officers without the need for a Garda presence. It also provides that an inspector may question any occupants for the purposes of the control of any social welfare payment. This is an important provision in aiming to clamp down on fraud which the Department takes very seriously.

Section 16 contains another anti-fraud measure. It provides that an officer of the Minister, authorised by the Minister for this purpose, may serve notice on a financial institution requiring it to make available for inspection records which may contain information about possible welfare fraud. This might be to examine whether withdrawals of money are being made, particularly where the only lodgments may be from a social welfare budget. We are anxious to ensure that if money is only being withdrawn in another country we will be able to check this and this is a serious anti-fraud measure. Section 17 provides for the transfer of bulk information relating to recipients of social welfare payments to the competent authority of another member state or international organisation or other country with which a reciprocal agreement has been made. We will be able to check automatically through bulk information as to what is happening with social welfare in those other countries when recipients may also be in this country.

Section 18 provides that payments made under the scheme known as the special Civil Service incentivised career break scheme will not be regarded as earnings for the purposes of the various earnings disregards applied in determining entitlement to social assistance payments and will therefore be fully assessable as means. Section 19 provides for the inclusion of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council and Road Safety Authority in the list of specified bodies authorised by legislation to use the personal public service, PPS, number as a public service identifier.

Under the provisions of the Pensions Act, an application to the Circuit Court for an order to enforce a determination of the Pensions Ombudsman must be made by the Minister. Section 20 provides that such applications will be taken by the Pensions Ombudsman.

Given the short timescale involved in bringing this Bill to the House, there are three areas where legislative changes are considered necessary but which could not be finalised in time to be included in the Bill as initially presented to the House. I will, therefore, table three amendments on Committee Stage. I will introduce an amendment to section 246 of the Social Welfare Act relating to habitual residence to provide that a person who does not have a right to reside in the State cannot be habitually resident here and that asylum seekers cannot be habitually resident in the State. The other two amendments are being introduced to ensure that where an 18 or 19 year old is on the reduced personal rate of jobseeker's allowance or supplementary welfare allowance, he or she will continue to receive the lower rate when he or she reaches the age of 20 and 21 years.

Even with the changes provided for in the Bill, €21.1 billion will be spent on social welfare in 2010. This is €676 million or 3.3% more than the expected final expenditure figure of €20.4 billion for 2009. While the Government appreciates that the cuts we are making in the welfare area will not be easy for people, we also genuinely believe that if we do not take steps now to reduce overall public expenditure and restore stability to the public finances, we risk making the economic situation much worse for everyone, including welfare recipients, in the long term.

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