Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A previous speaker commented on the issue of reviews of previous claims. Currently, there appears to be a concentrated effort on reviews of previous claims and on questioning people's entitlement to avail of various schemes, such as invalidity or disability schemes. These people are being put through rigorous scrutiny to see whether they are still entitled to their benefit. I believe an effort is being made to try to deprive people of their entitlement and to recoup scarce resources. No one can condone a person claiming a benefit illegitimately, but genuine claimants are being put under undue pressure and anxiety in the context of claiming a disability benefit to which they are entitled.

One case I am aware of relates to a carer's allowance. This person was in receipt of benefit for caring for her mother for two years. Carer's benefit is payable for a maximum of two years, but when the benefit expired the mother's condition had not changed - if anything, it had got worse - and the daughter caring for her applied for carer's allowance. She was refused the allowance, but has appealed that decision. Last week, the Government voted down legislation introduced by my colleague, Deputy Willie O'Dea, concerning delays in dealing with appeals. This is a serious concern. We must address the issue of these long delays in appeals on welfare entitlement.

I refer to the Tús scheme. This is an excellent and worthwhile scheme, but it could be improved in terms of how candidates are selected for it. On the community employment scheme, formerly the FÁS scheme, people could apply for a job. They could go for interview to the supervisor or sponsoring body and be deemed eligible if they met the criteria. Under the Tús scheme however, people are randomly selected for the scheme, while somebody, perhaps long-term unemployed, with a particular interest in the scheme cannot join it. That is wrong. The same criteria as used for somebody applying for community employment should be applied to the Tús scheme. If people wish to avail of the scheme, they should be allowed to.

I also believe we should extend the length of time people may be on the scheme, which is currently restricted to 12 months. The Minister has ruled out extending that, but I urge her to reconsider that decision. Many people have found the scheme extremely beneficial, particularly people who worked in the construction industry. Some of these people are at a stage in life, in their late 50s or early 60s, where they may not want or are not in a position to retrain as their chance of returning to full-time employment is not high. However, they would welcome an opportunity to work meaningfully in their communities for a number of years, but are precluded from doing that because of the 12 month restriction. The Minister should consider addressing this and we would welcome that.

Youth unemployment remains a critical issue. I suggest the Minister may not have sufficient personnel working on labour activation and in the various offices around the country to support these young people. Will the Minister inform me, either in her response to this debate or in writing, how the moneys are being spent in regard to the youth guarantee scheme? What are we doing to support people who want to get back into employment? The process in place currently in terms of an unemployed person getting a back to education allowance seems to be rigid. If people miss a day or two, they are excluded from the scheme. They are being told they should remain on unemployment benefit for a further 12 months and they can avail of the scheme in 12 months time.

There must be some element of leniency and commonsense. When social welfare inspectors are inspecting applications at local level, every support possible should be given to people who wish to return to education or training in order to improve their chances of availing of any job opportunities that arise in the future. The Government and the Oireachtas must support this as a priority.

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