Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

For weeks now there has been a chaotic breakdown in the delivery of illness benefit by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. My colleagues in the Oireachtas and in local authorities across the country have shared information with me about a succession of very challenging cases. People have been left for weeks without payment. This morning, a Labour Party councillor in Wexford spoke to a woman, who is in work, who is awaiting an appointment to have surgery. She has no money to buy food and today she had to resort to getting vouchers from the Society of St. Vincent De Paul; thank God they were there.

People have been given minimum payments instead of their full entitlement. In one case I dealt with, a person was offered €33 to cover two weeks payments. In another case, a woman who called to my advice clinic advised she had to wait nine weeks for a payment.

There is a social protection helpline available to Members of the Oireachtas, but calls are not being answered effectively. In a statement issued this morning the Department accepts this fact. It is greatly impeding our ability as public representatives to respond to the needs of persons who are waiting day by day to receive money to which they are fully entitled. Urgent action is required. I understand there have been IT difficulties that have led to delays in processing forms GPs send to certify people's unfitness to work. The bottom line is that people who are off work owing to illness or an injury are not receiving the money for which they have paid through an insurance fund and on which they are absolutely dependent. It is leaving them in dire straits. In addition, some long-standing recipients of illness benefit have found that their payments have stopped suddenly. Many of those who depend solely on this payment have been left with no money whatsoever for a number of weeks, placing them in an impossible position. No adequate explanation has been provided by the Department or the Minister as to why this has happened. The Minister claims to have consulted the IMO and that her Department has written to all contracted GPs setting out the changes that have happened recently. The commitment given by the Minister to continue to consult the IMO is not the same as actually stepping in to solve the problems people have. Will the Government clarify when it will engage directly in actions to end the delays and ensure all overdue payments will be made to those affected who are in dire need of money?

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