Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this Bill, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Following the economic crash of recent years thousands of people who never previously availed of social welfare payments found themselves forced to seek funds from the State to keep their families afloat and while this expenditure is necessary and must be maintained, it is important that every cent spent on social protection measures is given to those who most need it.

Social welfare fraud is taking money out of the pockets of the most needy in society and lining the pockets of the undeserving. The Minister, Deputy Burton, has made huge efforts to stamp out social welfare fraud and has come up with a number of innovative measures to help combat fraud. These measures have resulted in significant savings to date and thus I support her in her further efforts to eliminate fraud through the introduction of new measures to authenticate people’s identity. We have all heard stories, many of them urban myths, about people claiming multiple payments in different names. Under the current regulations people applying for a PPSN or public services card have to attend a Department of Social Protection office to have their photograph and signature recorded electronically, and a person who refuses to do so can have their payments suspended. The provisions of the Bill allow the extension of the scheme to all persons currently in receipt of social welfare and should have the effect of decreasing the opportunity for fraud even further.

I also welcome changes to jobseeker’s allowance, which will allow recipients of one-parent family payment to be exempt from certain conditions for a specified amount of time. It must be recognised that single parents with children in school, for example, are not available to take up courses which would render them unable to be present to collect or care for their children. Another very welcome and commonsense measure relates to firefighters who are currently in receipt of jobseeker’s benefit and jobseeker’s allowance. The Bill will exempt them from certain conditions and allow them greater access to jobseeker’s schemes. The changes in the Bill are in place on the ground in many cases, but incorporating the changes in legislation will provide further security to the State’s firefighters.

With money in very short supply, every opportunity to consolidate services must be examined. Accordingly, I welcome as another commonsense measure the decision to merge the office of the Pensions Ombudsman and the Financial Services Ombudsman. I note that the current Pensions Ombudsman has agreed to stay on past planned retirement to oversee the merger process. Such mergers can provide real savings in terms of office and human resources costs and opportunities for further such mergers should be identified in coming months.

I admit that I was somewhat concerned initially about plans to establish a new pensions council, fearing that it would morph into yet another State quango. However, I am pleased to learn that this will simply be a council which will advise the Minister on pension matters on request. It will not be a corporate body and will not have the power to spend money. I also welcome the fact the chairman and members of the pensions council will be unpaid. While undoubtedly new structures must be put in place to oversee governance of pensions systems, every effort must be made to ensure that we do not add to the already overweening levels of bureaucracy in the State. I commend the Minister, Deputy Burton, on her innovation in this regard. The Pensions Board will have the power to wind up a pension scheme where that scheme is underfunded. That is a necessary and long-overdue power and one that will be called upon in future as our ageing population places increased pressure on pension funds.

Further changes are necessary for the disbursement of pension scheme assets. The Minister must take cognisance of the recent decision in the European Court of Justice on the Waterford Crystal case. A comprehensive response to the findings in the case has yet to be formulated. Many of the measures contained in the Bill are commonsense measures, designed to combat fraud and improve oversight of pension schemes, while remaining ever mindful of the need to preserve the State’s scarce resources.

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