Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I too express my gratitude to the front-line workers in the Department of Social Protection. I thank them all, particularly those in Mayo and the west, for all of their help and for doing the massive job they have had to do.

I will ask the Minister a couple of questions. The first is on community employment schemes. Could contracts under such schemes be extended to, for example, 31 December to provide some certainty? The Minister needs to engage directly with organisations on the ground and to show some flexibility with respect to local needs and the make-up of the unemployed population in particular years. I fear that we are fixing things that are not broken and are ignoring things that are. That can be solved very easily with dialogue, discussion and common sense.

On the PUP, there are arrears owing and problems with the IT system. I would appreciate it if the Minister would look at those issues. I know she understands the stress and anxiety these delays are causing. People are waiting and checking their bank accounts every day to see if their money has arrived. That is just not right in the circumstances in which we are. We have talked about those aged over 66 many times. Most such people would not have been working if they did not really need to do so. It is grossly unfair to exclude them. I ask the Minister to look at that matter again. My concern about the PUP is that the Minister is giving it with one hand and taking it back with another through taxation. The PUP was initially described as an urgent needs payment. Exceptional needs payments are not taxable. I cannot see the difference between "urgent" and "exceptional". We really need to look at that because presenting more than 200,000 people with tax bills of up to €1,400 is just absolutely wrong. There is no case for it.

With regard to the impact of the PUP on medical cardholders, has the Minister's Department cross-checked with the Department of Health to see how many people have lost their medical cards as a result of the PUP? That would be a poverty-proofing exercise well worth doing.

The Minister talked about a pathway to employment. I take it that this also applies to farmers. Young farmers face great difficulty in accessing green certificate courses. In Mayo, something like 200 places were available on a further education course in Westport but there were 900 applicants. All of these young farmers are locked out at a time when we want them to take up farming. We need to take down these barriers and to create extra places on such courses.

Finally, it is grossly wrong that social welfare recipients are locked out of the 2016 incremental tenant purchase scheme and are not allowed to purchase their own homes, even if they have the means to do so, purely because they are dependent on social welfare.

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