Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will work it out.

I welcome the thrust of the Bill. I wish to raise with the Minister some points on it, on some of which she will agree, on others she will not, and on others of which she will laugh. She will be looking forward to hearing those.

There is a provision for the setting of reduced fees for birth certificates and death certificates. Surely an arrangement could be made that such certificates would be provided free of charge.

Regarding the proposal to access social welfare benefits online, it is similar to the provision requesting many farmers who are over the age of 70 to apply for certain grants online. They are not tech-savvy. I hope the Minister will look favourably on people of a certain age or who have not had the necessary education over the years and ensure they are assisted to access services online or given some training on how to do that. I would like more clarity on the benefits that can be assessed online. A list of those benefits should be given. That would flag that change for people. Some people will be fearful of going into a post office and putting their hand up and saying look they are not able to do this online. We have seen that over the years.

I welcome the change proposed for those in receipt of disability allowance and the blind person's pension. It is vital. I find it confusing that it is proposed that the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs will have a handle on all the information related to civil records. I thought that come under the remit of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

My colleague, Deputy Mitchell referred to the community employment schemes. I have a concern participants on those schemes being able to access electronic payments, some of whom may have mental health issues and not have much confidence. Will there be supports provided for them in accessing their payments? Perhaps the Minister could consider allowing some of those participants could stay on those schemes indefinitely to help them along.

The Minister will enjoy what I am about to say about the public services card. I tried to figure out if was compulsorily or mandatory for people to obtain it. I tried to go on to the Revenue Online Service, and this is the crux of the issue with the card. I inserted by personal public service, PPS, number and lo and behold, I am not registered on the system as Pat. I cannot get a public service card because my name on birth certificate is Anthony James, the name Patrick is not included on it. Revenue telephoned me twice on a Friday. I thought that was very unusual, wanting to know who I was, but they surely knew who I was when they phoned me. I was elected a Deputy as Pat Buckley. I was christened Anthony James Patrick. Many people will enjoy that when they see these proceedings replayed. I have phoned Revenue on number of occasions. I cannot claim back tax because I do not exist on the system as I cannot access a public services card, and nobody can tell me whether it is mandatory or compulsory that I have that card. I would like to speak to the Minister about that issue after the debate or even tomorrow. This has been an ongoing issue and I have been in contact with a few Departments. It has been frustrating and I am trying to hold on to the bit that I have left. I can thank my Mam for that, for the triple hammer name.

With respect to welfare fraud, I would question if what is proposed would involve double-digiting or a repetition process. We have a Department that deal with payments. Do we need a separate Department to log all these payments? If one has been overpaid by the Department, it does not take it long to tack one down. It would involve duplication and we would end up with cross wires, something similar to what we have had with the public services card. It raises the issue of data protection. It is safer to have all this data and information in one area. I did not see much information on the control of this data and protection the information on the public services card.

Jobseeker's benefit does not go far enough to assist young people. They are also discriminated on the basis of their age. That provision does not go far enough to assist lone parents. While we can debate this, we should also address pension and domiciilary care allowance payments. Compared to the last debate I had with the Minister, I thought I would take it easy tonight and make it a more amenable occasion. I would like to speak to her in private about the ongoing issue I have with the public services card. I am concerned that they will cause a great deal of confusion. Many people have come into my office inquiring about them and I have not been able to tell them whether it is compulsory or mandatory for them to have it. I would like the Minister to answer that question. I will now hand over to my colleague Deputy Martin Kenny.

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