Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on Second Stage of this Bill on the day the Government published the national recovery plan. This Department will play a significant role in the success of that plan in the coming three years. I got only a brief glance of the Minister's statement but am delighted to see that the three areas on which he and his Department will concentrate are activation measures, structural reform and fraud control. Those are three areas this Minister has taken on in a way no previous incumbent tackled the matter. For many years, as public representatives, we have listened to people who come to us claiming that other people have payments and privileges to which they are not entitled. There is enormous scope for reform in this area and I understand that at least €500 million has been saved. I know the Minister has great interest in the activation measures. There is a great opportunity for the Department to ensure that numbers are reduced and that alternatives are provided for people in order to take them off the live register and get them back to work.

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on this important piece of legislation which contains a number of important provisions. These include the full transfer of the employment services and community services programmes of FÁS to the Department of Social Protection. There will be a change to the current provisions by means of the public services card which is due to be rolled out in 2011. Electronic certification for jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit are to be provided as are provisions requiring that a landlord's tax reference number be supplied before a rent supplement can be awarded to new claimants.

One of the most important elements of the Bill is probably the full transfer of the employment services and community services programmes of FÁS to the Department. In addition, FÁS staff will be integrated into the Department of Social Protection. As other speakers noted, the vast majority of front line staff in FÁS had no hand, act or part in the difficulties in which the organisation found itself in recent times. A very small minority of people in very powerful positions abused their positions and tainted the brilliant name FÁS had. Fom my constituency I know that without the FÁS centres and programmes and the CE schemes a great number of people would have found themselves in great difficulty and without any alternative. I know that front line staff such as centre managers and those who deal with people looking for employment had no part in the way FÁS went. The organisation still has an enormous role to play in the future of this country. Its integration into the Department of Social Protection is logical and makes great sense. The vast majority of front line staff are hugely committed to what they do.

The integration of FÁS will provide a more streamlined response to the needs of unemployed people by integrating income support through the social welfare system, with supports for activation and preparation for returning to work. As the Minister is aware, groups have recently been in touch with us to voice their concerns about the future of some of the schemes, including the CE schemes. However, the employment and community services programmes play an integral part in sustaining communities and in these difficult times are probably even more important in ensuring that people have an alternative to staying at home with nothing to do. Even when jobs are harder to come by training and further education provide opportunities for people and their families. I see this on a daily and weekly basis in my constituency. People are looking for alternatives and opportunities and they seek support. This Department and the various organs attached to it play a significant role in that.

I very much welcome the changes in the rent supplement scheme. For too long some landlords have abused the system although the vast majority are conscientious, fair, business people. In my constituency I have had first-hand experience of the dire conditions some tenants are forced to endure. It is not only the tenant who suffers in this situation; so does the surrounding community. There is a large knock-on effect when an unscrupulous landlord neglects to look after his business. We are paying more than €500 million in rent supplement. For that investment we need to ensure, first, that there is no abuse of the system and second, that we get value for money and that the 95,000 people in the rent supplement system are treated fairly. The changes being made in this regard will ensure landlords are registered. For some time there has been difficulty in this regard. My area has large tracts of flat-land where older dilapidated buildings are used on a regular basis to accommodate people. It is not fair, to either the tenant or the system. The State is investing vast sums of money in these premises. I reiterate the vast majority of landlords are compliant and provide a great service for their tenants. However, the changes envisaged in this legislation will ensure there are improvements.

Provision is also provided in the Bill for the introduction of electronic certification for jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit which will allow certain people who receive jobseeker's allowance and benefit to complete their signing on process by electronic means. I welcome the cost savings that should derive from this as the efforts and attention of staff are refocused. Staff resources will be freed up to concentrate on the client, the claim, the payment and control issues. As other speakers noted, the Department is examining the possibility of using mobile telephones for jobseeker certification. That plan is at a very early stage and much work needs to be done on it. If anybody had said five, seven or ten years ago that we would have electronic banking that would enable a person to sit at home and do all his or her banking business over the Internet, or shop via the Internet, placing an order to be delivered to the house, people would have said this could never happen. I happen to have experience of the Department of Social Welfare in the 1980s. At that time it was one of the most progressive Departments in terms of the use of technology. It was one of the first Departments to have all its records in electronic form and it made a huge difference even though it is very costly at the time. It made it easier for the staff to administer the different payments and also made it easier for the client.

Electronic signing is a step forward and the use of a digital signature pad will prove very popular, in particular in areas where the nearest local office might be some distance from a person's home. The savings from these advances will help to maintain payments to those who need them most. However, reasonable control has to be kept on electronic signing on and it is essential that the system is not open to abuse or fraud. The fact that huge savings have been made so far through control measures means it is the way to go. One only gets so much out of it and it can be costly to follow up on every individual case but it is a lot of opportunity.

While most of the stories are anecdotal, the Department follows up on each case and ensures that money is not being wasted very seriously. In a very difficult time, such as we have at the moment, where the Minister is required to cut its budget by hundreds of millions of euro, any opportunity should be taken to tackle those problems and ensure that the people who have to avail of social protection payments and are the most vulnerable people are those who benefit most from a reducing pot of resources. As we said earlier, one of the biggest problems facing the people in this country is the lack of work opportunities and the money difficulties for households which come from that.

This Bill is a welcome step forward in reforming and improving the range of services across Government which assist and support people when they lose their jobs. They need income support and support to get back into employment. There are opportunities for people to retrain, change the direction they have been in for a very long time, reskill, look at a different area and take advantage of whatever changes are coming along. The workforce is very fluid and changing pool of people and people have to adapt to that.

It makes good practical sense to locate all the services for unemployed people in one office. People can access all the services which may be available to them, have all their entitlements are accessible in the one centre and are not travelling from office to office, as has been the case for many years, filling out form after form in order to claim their entitlements. They would also not have to chase around trying to do the best they can to look for whatever opportunities may be available to them. If we can centralise that and make it more efficient and streamlined it will be cost effective which is hugely important in the current climate. It would also encourage people to take advantage of whatever is available to them.

In a particularly difficult economic climate we must make sure that any changes which are made, whether through legislation or whatever other measure, ensure that the resources we have as a country are spent properly, efficiently and targeted at people who need support most. Any changes that are made to encourage and support that are to be welcomed. I look forward to the speedy passage of this Bill through the House.

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