Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Quinn and others spoke about free travel and the fact that 1.1 million people avail of the free travel scheme. Everybody would agree that we should identify abuses in the system. Obviously, there are abuses in the system. That is necessary to protect the people who need it and qualify for it. Proper identity cards would certainly help in that regard.

Senator Hayden and others spoke about mortgage arrears. We have had many debates in the House. The Government has clearly defined actions and targets that will solve this problem. We will arrange a future debate about rent supplement with the Minister for Social Protection.

Senator Cullinane spoke about payments to bankers, which I have addressed. Senator Michael D'Arcy spoke about replies to Adjournment motions. The matter was raised at the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and we can relay what was decided to Senator D'Arcy. The issue of Guthrie cards has been raised in this House by Senators Bacik and Colm Burke and several other Senators over the past number of weeks. I was asked yesterday to ensure that the meeting that had been requested with the Minister be facilitated. I learned afterwards that no request for a meeting had been made but I understand that a request has been made since yesterday so, hopefully, the Minister will accede to it and have a meeting with the people involved.

Senator Leyden spoke about Cyprus. Again, I addressed this matter yesterday. The Cypriot stability levy on deposits is a once-off measure, is unique to Cyprus and has no impact on deposit holders in any other EU member state. We need to be very clear that the disproportionate size of the banking sector, which is eight times the size of the Cypriot economy, and the nature of its liabilities make this a unique situation with no parallels elsewhere in the eurozone. The Eurogroup has made clear to the Cypriot authorities its view that small depositors should be treated differently to large depositors. To reinforce this point, the Eurogroup reaffirmed the importance of fully guaranteeing deposits below ¤100,000. The structure of the levy on deposits was proposed by the Cypriot authorities and is their responsibility. There has been no suggestion by the Eurogroup, ECB, Commission or IMF that this tax will apply in any other member state. That clarifies that matter.

Senator Kelly and several other Senators spoke about the pending retirement of Jimmy Walsh. I hope we will have an opportunity to pay tribute to him for the excellent work he has done in reporting the activities of the House for many years. I compliment him on his professionalism in that regard. I hope we will have an opportunity next week to do that.

Senator O'Sullivan spoke about Charleville railway station and the difficulties that station presents for elderly people, an issue he raised previously. I will certainly bring that matter to the attention of the Minister. Senator Paul Coghlan spoke about banks allowing families in arrears to stay in their homes. Ensuring that people will stay in their homes and that banks will address the problem of mortgage arrears is the aim of the Government. This is what is happening now and will happen before the end of this year. Hopefully, this matter will be resolved. He also called for the Credit Review Office to get involved before receivers are put in place. I urge the Senator to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister. Perhaps it could be raised when we discuss the Finance Bill for the next six or seven hours.

Senator Heffernan complimented all involved in Irish racing and the 14 winners at Cheltenham last week. I pay tribute to the outgoing chairman of Horse Racing Ireland, Denis Brosnan, who did such a wonderful job during his term and wish the new chairman, Joe Keeling, every success in that regard. The Senator also spoke about John Thomas McNamara, the Irish jockey who was very badly injured at Cheltenham and who celebrated his 600th winner in point-to-point racing at Kilfeacle only a short number of weeks ago. It would be everyone's hope that he will have a speedy recovery and we should all remember him in our prayers.

Senator Mullins spoke about social welfare fraud. As another Senator noted, I presume the case to which he referred today has been reported to the authorities to ensure this type of fraud does not continue because it is important that those who deserve social welfare get it and that fraud does not occur in the system as a result of fraudsters outside or inside the country. I think we would all agree that the vast majority of people receiving social welfare are decent, law-abiding citizens.

Senator Norris was acting as a political forecaster with regard to where political parties will be in a few years time. We will have to wait and see. Senator Healy Eames spoke about debt resolution and the need for more action on mortgages on the ground. We outlined those measures and, hopefully, we will see more action on the ground. Senator Ó Clochartaigh spoke about the structure and management of the HSE and the lack of joined-up thinking, particularly in Galway.

I am sure the Minister would welcome information which exists in this regard but I do not believe it would be necessary for the Seanad to engage in a debate on the matter in order for said information to be furnished to him. I hope the Senator will forward the information in question to the Minister as a matter of urgency.

Senators Brennan and Keane referred to the promotion of the Irish language. Efforts in that regard are to be applauded, regardless of the source from which they come.

Senator Mooney referred to the proposals for CAP reform. I will endeavour to have the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine come before the House to discuss that matter. He has agreed to appear before us in order to discuss the situation relating to horsemeat and food labelling shortly after Easter. We might ask him to address the subject of CAP reform at the same time. The time allocated for the debate on horsemeat and food labelling is 90 minutes but we will probably need to extend this in order that we might address the additional issues that will arise. I will try to encourage the Minister to come before the House for as long a debate as possible. The agreement reached by the Minister and his colleagues in Europe in recent days is a major stepping stone in the negotiations on the reform of the CAP. As everyone is aware, those negotiations have been ongoing for a number of years. The successful completion of the Council's deliberations means that in the context of its goal of reaching interinstitutional political agreement by the end of June, the Irish Presidency remains very much on target. Moreover, the strength of the qualified majority given by the Council places the Presidency in a strong position in the negotiations with the European Parliament and the European Commission. The outcome was good for the Irish Presidency but, more importantly, it was good for Ireland. The Council endorsed the principle of flexibility in the way in which direct payments are to be distributed within member states. This is known here as internal convergence and it had been the outstanding issue in the negotiations from an Irish perspective. The inclusion of the model proposed by Ireland in the range of options for member states holds out the prospect of significantly lower transfers of payments between farmers than would be the case if the Commission?s flat-rate proposal had been agreed. We will try to get the Minister to come before the House to outline the position on the reform of the CAP in early course.

Senator Keane raised the issue of the Oncotype DX test. The Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, announced that this test, which is used to discover whether cancer patients might benefit from chemotherapy, has been extremely successful. Ireland is the first country in Europe to make this test available through the public health system. Israel, Canada and the USA already fund the test. Within the past month, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in the UK has also endorsed its use in that jurisdiction. Of the 409 women tested by the public health service between October 2011 and December 2012, 309 were deemed not to require chemotherapy and were able to avoid the significant toxicity to which several months of such therapy would give rise. The indications to date are that the test has been a highly cost-effective intervention and has allowed the health care system to avoid the cost of drugs and their administration. The expenditure on the test technology to date is over ¤1 million. I am sure everyone will agree that this is money well spent.

Senator Moloney referred to invalidity pension and a matter relating to P45s which has been rectified. On that matter, there continue to be long delays in the appeals system relating to invalidity pension. It is not acceptable that sick people submitted their appeals up to a year ago and that these have not yet been attended to. This matter will have to be addressed by the Government because it is just not acceptable for people to be obliged to wait so long to obtain their invalidity pensions. I am aware of one specific case involving a man who has cancer and who is obliged to wear a colostomy bag. He was refused invalidity pension and submitted an appeal over 12 months ago. Each month he receives the same reply to his requests for information, namely, that his file will be sought and the matter will be dealt with. The position in this regard is just not satisfactory and the matter will have to be addressed.