Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 10, subsection (3), line 24, after ?Commissioners.? to insert the following:?The Revenue Commissioners shall be the designated primary body for the conduct of means testing in the State.?.

This deals with the sharing of personal data on circumstances. Means testing takes place here, in SUSI, in community welfare offices and in the Revenue Commissioners. Is it not time for a whole of Government approach where multiple means testing does not take place? Efficiency would be improved by having all the data in one computer system. This is a problem the Government should address as it attempts to get the national finances into order and to prevent excessive duplication of tasks. I recognise a lot has happened in the reorganisation of local government and with SUSI, which was previously done by local authorities, but this should be a goal for the Government in order that citizens would be able to declare their income in a single office rather than all offices, something that leads to the many complaints from Deputies and Senators on behalf of people who are going through a multiplicity of means tests. Much of this is left over from the pre-computer era.

I will not press the issue unduly but we all should look at administrative processes that lead to duplication and waste. We want the money to reach the target group and not to be spent on administration. Perhaps the Minister of State will relay to the Cabinet the view in the Seanad that we should streamline means testing and income declarations in a single facility using modern technology.