Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Among the many wonderful things promised in the programme for Government is, at page 7, improved delivery of services. In that context, is the Government aware of the plight of people who are either in receipt of, or applying for, illness benefit at present? Many of those people have had their illness benefit suddenly reduced. I got a text in the last five minutes from somebody who got €33 this week instead of the €198 they were entitled to get. Some are now paid intermittently and, in some cases, payment has stopped completely. Nobody can get through to the relevant section of the Department, including me.

I have had a number of calls from senior officials in the Department of Social Protection itself, not to mention from community welfare officers, CWOs, who have told me they are frustrated with the lack of response to tens of thousands of the most vulnerable people in the country. I questioned the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection in the House a couple of weeks ago in regard to the change of forms, and she assured me everything was under control and about to return to normal. It has not returned to normal; it has got far worse. Can the Minister tell me what the Government is going to do about delivering an adequate service to these most vulnerable citizens?

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