Phil Prendergast (Labour)

Perfect. I thank the Minister as this was not quite clear. Like Senator McFadden, on many occasions I have been called to visit people who are living in very unsuitable accommodation. I called to see a young mother with a two-year old child. She accessed her flat by means of an iron stairwell at the back of a premises. The lower ground level window was broken and rats were running around the yard. There should be a system in place to prevent the council giving a rent supplement for use in that kind of accommodation.

Section 10 of the Bill amends the rules relating to the means test for the carer's allowance so as to exempt any foreign social security payments from the income disregard. This will disappoint some people whose allowance will be reduced but it brings equity to the scheme in so far as those with no foreign income are allowed less under the means test.

The Minister will have the opportunity to address the habitual residency rule that is leading some Irish people returning from abroad to care for elderly or infirm loved ones being refused a carer's allowance. I ask him to comment on whether he has done anything about this problem. The welfare tourism argument is largely spurious but some form of system for assessment of the merits of a claim from a non-habitual resident should have been provided for in this Bill. This section is about saving money in the social protection budget but these carers save money for the health budget by reducing the need for home or residential care.

I refer to a specific case where a person returned home over a year ago-----