Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will raise two issues with the Deputy Leader. The first is one I am sure other Members of the House have come across in recent weeks. It is the delay in exceptional needs payments through the community welfare officer service. I recognise the important work that our community welfare officers, CWOs, carry out each day on the front line of this cost-of-living crisis. Over many years, I am sure like others, I have worked closely with many CWOs for the benefit of those that need help most. However, the community welfare service is changing and we need to debate those changes in this House before the community and welfare parts of this once great service are taken away for good. On average, I am told, exceptional needs payments take four to six weeks to get to the CWO for decision. This is not good enough, as I am sure we can all agree.

There seems to be an attempt on the part of Government to centralise the service, introducing an unnecessary and delaying step where clerical officers first see the claims, rather than the CWOs, as was always the case. There is now a centralised phone number which many people I speak to find it impossible to get through, and which advises in the first instance that those wishing to avail of the system should send an email. This is difficult for many of those who have to avail of the system.

I spoke in this House before the summer of the additional needs payment which was announced by Government and advertised by the Department. This scheme and the ads promoting it seem to have disappeared and been abandoned by the Department. We are now in a cost-of-living crisis and are told it will deepen yet the service many depend on is changing and not for the better. I am sure many Members have developed great working relationships with the CWOs in their areas. That relationship is under threat. The service is not working. Those CWOs left in the system are being put under great pressure to change practices that have worked in our communities for many years. They need our support. Most importantly, however, the service must continue to do what it says on the tin. It is a community service to assist those who need it most. It must remain rooted in our communities and not be centralised to major towns and cities. I would appreciate an opportunity to debate this with the Minister. I raised it this morning at the social protection committee, of which I am a member, but I think we need to debate it in this House as well.Like my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin, I welcome the extension of train services to Newbridge. The short-hop zone needs to be extended too. We will continue to campaign for that.

The second issue that I want to raise is the youth travel scheme. I welcomed this scheme in this House previously. I also welcomed that it has been extended to private operators, which was great. As my colleague, Senator Warfield, said, we have a student accommodation crisis. Those who are attending third level education who are 17 or 18 years of age cannot avail of the youth travel scheme. They are outside the scheme. I have been contacted by many people, particularly those of 18 years of age, who are paying double the cost that a sibling who is two or three years older paid to go to college. They have no other option because of the accommodation crisis. I ask that the matter be raised again and for the youth travel scheme to be changed.