Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well in office. His Department has a highly-skilled and professional staff, some of whom have been working on the complex and varied issues relevant to the Department's work for many years. These are issues that impact significantly on communities. I spent a short time in the Department and am aware of the competence and professionalism of its staff. I hope the Minister will continue the progressive work that has been ongoing for many years.

Senator Ulick Burke mentioned the professionalism and courtesy of staff in the regional offices. It is clear that the regionalisation of welfare services has been beneficial to customers. There may be a lesson here for other regional bodies that did not make such an effective contribution to improving the delivery of their services.

I support what Senator Burke has said about moneylenders. Over a number of years, the Department has given substantial funding to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and MABS to deal with the blatant abuse that has been taking place in many areas, especially under-developed areas of towns and rural areas. Moneylenders should be outlawed. They are putting significant pressure on families and are behaving in an illegal fashion. Despite the efforts made to come to grips with this situation for more than a decade, the problem is not under control. I hope the Minister will make a special effort to provide additional funding to secure a mechanism that can deal with the problem and rid the country of this scourge. Moneylenders are torturing people and driving some to near suicide.

I stress the need to review the provision of housing for the elderly. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Health and Children, through the health boards, have been given some funding to help elderly people install such basic facilities as tiles in their showers. However, there is a sizeable number of elderly people, especially in isolated rural areas, who are living alone or with elderly relatives without basic facilities such as water and sewerage services.

The Minister might use the advice he receives from the skilled staff in regional offices to work in conjunction with health boards and county councils to tackle this problem. Despite the additional funding that has been provided, there is still a sizeable gap to be bridged in this regard. The issue is not the Minister's direct area of responsibility but he should review it in the overall context of taking care of the elderly, especially those who are ill and disabled. He might consider bringing the three Departments together to make some meaningful contribution towards resolving a problem, which has existed for many years.

I compliment the Department on initiatives it has taken over a number of years in encouraging people to go back to education. Last year controversial restrictions were introduced, which militated against some people continuing in the scheme. There is a growing demand for mature students to go back to education. The Minister should consider some new initiatives in that regard, considering so many people want to go back to education to allow them to set up their own business and go back to work.

Overall the transformation in finances the Government has delivered in the past few years has been reflected in the Social Welfare Bill this year. I compliment the Minister and wish him well in the Department. I hope the benefits will continue for many years to come.