Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not know where the Minister is getting her information from. Maybe her Department is not telling her the full story. I have a litany in my office of people who have had problems and who are constantly getting payments, though they have told the illness benefit section that they are not required since they are back at work. Some people have never been paid for the times they have been off. Some people were off for a couple of weeks in August and still have not been paid for it. Talking to other Deputies, I hear a litany of complaints from them. One person who was off sick for two weeks in August, only just this week, after going in five or six times himself to tell the Department that he is back at work and not entitled to the money, is still being sent money. It cancelled it and then sent him a cheque for €1,600 after him cancelling it again. He had to go to a Deputy to get it cancelled the second time. Other people are getting money on haphazard days of the week. They have no way of planning and cannot do anything about it. They might get €200 this week and €99 next week. There is a litany of such issues and any Deputy in this House will have the same problems. I do not know where the Minister is getting the information from. The Department is obviously telling her the good story, which is fair enough, but there is another side which the Minister needs to look at.

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