Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, the money is big; one would not expect otherwise. The number of providers is relatively small, however. There are 720 providers. I do not accept the argument that there were suddenly queries. I have raised questions on behalf of a number of providers and every time I raise a question, people come back and say they will be paid shortly. They never come back and say they are sorry, they raised queries and did not get replies or they have outstanding issues that they have to get clarified. They have not said that.

I have also received many complaints from providers saying they cannot get hard information as to when they will get paid. I find it hard to believe that people have not been paid for October and November of last year, for example, that there are outstanding queries, that those queries are not being answered and that people are ringing Deputies to find out where their payments are. As I said, the lie to that is the fact that in responses from the Department to parliamentary questions on this issue, people inevitably never raise that issue and just cite the amount of work.

I have a clear view that everybody is entitled to payment and it is up to the State to find a way to make that payment. If the Department did not have the resources, it should have outsourced it right from the beginning to relevant State agencies. I am not trying to give it to the private sector. We have plenty of bodies within the State that are used to making large numbers of payments efficiently, on time and all the time. Therefore, I hope the Minister of State will suggest to the senior Minister that he talk to Pobal. As I said, there is a particularly suitable office in Clifden. We need the jobs, the Government needs the work done and Pobal always deliver on time and all the time.

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