Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the broad thrust of the Bill. On reading through the heads of the Bill, I noted that No. 6 deals with births, deaths and marriage certificates. There is an anomaly in that area, which could be addressed in the Bill, if such a provision was included in it. Certificates are issued when a person is born, gets married and dies but when a person gets divorced, which unfortunately is the experience of many people, there is no divorce certificate issued. Ireland is one of the few countries that does not issue one. If a person is a divorcee and wants to apply for social welfare, they must prove that they are divorced. Evidence of a divorce is the court order. It includes much detail about why the marriage broke up. It is a large file and also includes custody arrangements for children, matters that are very private and personal, that the person would certainly not want to fall into the hands of other people. I know of a case where a divorcee who had taken her former husband's name on marriage wanted to have her original name on her passport. She had to provide the court decree and the court order dissolving the marriage. That involved a great deal of documentation, which she had a big job to try to get and make sure everything was right with it. It was way over what was required. Most other jurisdictions have a single certificate just like a marriage certificate which states that this marriage which was contracted on such a date was annulled or resulted in divorce on such a date. That is stamped and it is clear and it is done. We do not have such a certificate in Ireland. There is an opportunity in this Bill to bring that about. Many people find themselves in the trap of having to provide evidence of their situation. That is the first thing they will be asked for. If a person is applying for any social welfare benefit, I am sure it is one of the things they will be asked for. We know separation agreements are asked for. Evidence of a divorce is often required and there is not a clear divorce certificate in place in Ireland. That is something that needs to be addressed. Is there an opportunity to provide for that in this Bill? It is one of the issues I wanted to raise with the Minister.

The other issue relates to JobPath, which was referred to by previous speakers. JobPath has been raised with me in the past 12 to 18 months. A private company has been set up to deliver the service. It is a work action scheme focused on getting people back into employment. The experience of it by a great number of people has been very negative. I note the Minister is shaking her head at that but I would beg to disagree. Given their negative experience of it, JobPath needs to be reviewed. I know of the case of an elderly woman in her 60s, who has been looking after her parents, who does not drive a car and lives in a rural area. When her parents passed away, there was no work possibilities for her where she lived. She applied for jobseeker's benefit.

She was then immediately called to JobPath. She was almost 30 miles away, had no transport and there was no means to provide money to her to hire a car or get a taxi. The woman was in total disarray as to how to handle the situation. Then she was being taught how to write CVs for jobs that, first, do not really exist in County Leitrim and, second, even if they did, she was not in appropriate circumstances to take. Other schemes would have suited her perfectly such as the community employment scheme, which she was anxious to go on but was banned from because she was tied into JobPath. There is an issue about how appropriate some people are for the JobPath scheme. That a private company is operating it means that in many cases it is being done for profit. It gets paid for everyone it places, and that is the problem at the centre of the issue.

I, therefore, urge the Minister to review JobPath. Other schemes have been re-examined in the past and Governments have put up their hands and said they were changing them. Perhaps they did not put up their hands but they said that they had reviewed it and do not think it is a good idea any more. No one is going to beat up anyone for mistakes made in the past. The Minister is a new Minister in the job and I wish her the best. I think this is the first time I have conversed with her in this role. However, JobPath is a mistake and I urge her to use this opportunity to quietly get someone to have a look at it. Push it to one side and find something better and more appropriate because it does not work for a lot of people.

The key point I wish to raise, however, is the certificate for those who are divorced. There is an opportunity in the Bill to do something about it. It can easily be done and is worth examining.

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