Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I wish to share my time with Deputy Frank Feighan.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill. The amalgamation of FÁS employment services with the Department of Social Protection is a welcome and timely development and is something that is long overdue. I have concerns and questions with regard to certain aspects of the Bill, but will get to those later.

I refer first to the important point made by Deputy Durkan when he stated that people on social welfare payments should be looked after in these difficult times. As a country, we owe this help to the underprivileged. We also owe it to pensioners and older people. In that regard, Fianna Fáil Deputies should stop putting it out that they are in negotiation with the Minister. Some of them have issued newsletters, while others have issued photographs of themselves in negotiation. They suggest they are trying to persuade the Minister to stop making a reduction in pensions. However, they know in their hearts and souls that there will be no reduction in the pension. We all know that and that news has been broadcast on the airwaves. I understand that at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary meeting last night some people stated they were fighting to protect the old age pension. It is high time people stopped using and abusing the pensioners in this regard. It is nonsense. People should be ashamed of themselves for using our older generation in this way. This should not happen again and I hope the Minister will clarify the issue here. I know pensioners will not be affected, but there are other vulnerable people in society, such as people who are genuinely unemployed. These people, people on carer's allowance and those entitled to other social welfare payments must be protected as possible.

I am glad the Minister is present for this discussion and hope he will address in his response the significant concern among the public about fraud in the social welfare system. I believe there is not as much fraud as is suspected, but the taxpayers need to be assured of this. We have a serious difficulty with this issue. After today's announcement, some people will pay more than 50% of their income back to the Government. These people work hard, but on a daily basis they hear about fraud in the system. I urge the Minister to make a special effort to get the truth to the public and prove to it that significant fraud does not take place. He should also clarify the entitlements of non-nationals and the new Europeans and others who have come to Ireland. Rumour and speculation abound that these people are on the take constantly. The Minister needs to address this issue. I understand this may be difficult to explain, but when people are paying high taxes, they must be assured that their taxes are not being wasted. That is only fair. Irish people are supportive and helpful; they want to help the underprivileged, pensioners and provide child benefit. We are in this together and that is one of the messages coming from this recession. However, they cannot understand how fraud can be tolerated. We need clarity on that. We need to get over the hurdle of the notion of wholesale fraud.

The Minister has a duty to explain that and restore the confidence of the people. I do not have an answer to the problem but some sort of effort is required in terms of publicity or figures to reassure us that people are being checked and looked after.

The Bill's provisions on text, voice and Internet declarations on social welfare are daft. If people are unemployed and have nothing else to do, there is nothing wrong in asking them to make the trip into town to sign on.

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