Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

The second case is of a man whose business went belly-up. He and his brother both lost a sight of money. They have no money. This man is a widower. He is getting his widower's pension and only for that he would be crucified. He is looking for mortgage relief but they keep saying he is part owner of a demolished building. It has no monetary value, land value or building value. His application has been refused by supplementary welfare officers, who feed information to the Minister's office for his replies to my parliamentary questions. Finally, and to give the Minister his due, when I put down a fifth written question on the matter last week, I got a telephone call from Deputy Ó Cuív. He said, "You know that case you keep referring to in parliamentary questions?" I said, "Yes", and I trotted out the man's name. He said, "Well, you get him to do the following". He told me to tell the man to go to a solicitor, get a letter saying he had no interest in a demolished building or money in the bank and send it to the HSE.

I cite this case as an example of the dog-in-the-mangerish way some supplementary welfare officers work to their agenda. They will be far better off under the ambit of the Department of Social Protection.

Thank you for you leniency, a Cheann Comhairle. I am finished.

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