Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 26 Mar 1998

Vol. 489 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Social Welfare Payments.

Mr. Sargent

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter. Until recently, unemployment assistance was paid manually to people. However, the new system of paying by cheque has created problems in many households.

The basic principle behind this new system is good in that people are no longer required to present themselves at unemployment offices. It is also in line with my party's policy to introduce a guaranteed basic income. It provides an alternative to the apartheid which exists in our society between claimants and those with tax free allowances who do not have to present themselves at unemployment offices.

A serious mistake was made in not introducing this new system without these delays. The effect of the change is to turn the advance cash payment into a retrospective payment. Last Tuesday, for example, there was no money for those who normally get paid on that day. All such payments will now be one week in arrears, although the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs will say that no one is losing money.

This problem is in stark contrast to the customer friendly policy advocated under the strategic management initiative. Customers are told to borrow money until cheques are sent a week later. However, if they do this they will always be a week in arrears as they will need to pay the money back with the following week's cheque. This is a shoddy way to manage the money on which people depend.

The Department will benefit from this new streamlined system as it will require fewer staff and less security as there will be fewer cash payments. However, the customer will be forced to turn to moneylenders and that is a serious indictment of the State. I contrast that with what pensioners were offered in the past couple of years to encourage them to change from a cash to a cheque system. I am not sure of the full details, but I understand they were offered prize bonds. Incentives were provided so that people would feel happy about changing rather than being penalised. That proves the Department recognised the problems associated with changing from a cash to a cheque payment system.

The Minister is the only one who can restore the caring reputation epitomised by the Department's logo. That logo is an insult to those who have been told they will not get any money this week and that they must wait until the cheque is posted to them next week. That gives the impression the Department is more interested in streamlining its operation and cutting back on costs. It is computerising its operation at the expense of defenceless and vulnerable people. Its customer friendly policy is a hollow one.

I understand there is a 50 per cent payment offer. I ask the Minister to ensure that payments are not made in arrears and that people are allowed to claim some money to get them through the current week.

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

I thank Deputy Sargent for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to outline the situation in this regard.

The issue raised by the Deputy relates to a system of payment of unemployment benefit and assistance. These payments are made through a network of departmental and branch offices. A new computer system for unemployment, sickness and other short-term payment — the ISTS system — is in the process of being implemented. All departmental offices are now operating this system and we are currently in the process of extending the system to the branch office network. Connection to this system represents a significant advance in the service that the branch offices can offer our customers.

As part of the new system, claimants are no longer paid in cash but will generally receive payment at post offices. This is a more secure payment system for staff and customers and provides the opportunity for my Department to offer added value services to customers, such as the facility for deductions to be made under the successful household budgeting scheme. An additional benefit is that customers now have to sign only once every four weeks instead of every week.

For the vast majority of customers in branch offices the switch over to the new computer system has no impact other than the change from payment in cash to payment in post offices. For customers generally there is no delay in their payment arising from the changeover. One group of customers, however, namely those engaged in casual employment for part of the week and in receipt of unemployment assistance for the balance of the week, are subject to some disruption of payment in the process of the changeover. This arises because each week these customers must declare the days they worked in the previous week. Under the previous system customers declared each week when they signed on the days worked in the previous week and payment was computed and paid on that basis.

Under the new arrangement the details of working patterns are posted in by the customers and are then entered on the computer system for payment. This can cause some delay during the changeover period for the small number of people involved. In no case could the period of delay exceed seven days. The Deputy's motion refers to a period of 14 to 21 days. If the Deputy is aware of delays longer than seven days, perhaps he could bring them to my attention. In Balbriggan 1,600 cases were put live on the ISTS system, of which 80 were unemployment assistance casual cases to which we referred. They were all informed by letter of the change in payment and of the date of the next payment. Only two people requested the application for the special arrangements to cover the week's delay because they had no employment that week.

The difficulty this could cause in certain cases has been recognised and arrangements were offered to all such customers to have 50 per cent of their unemployment payment paid to them by special manual payment in advance and the balance paid by cheque the following week. If there are particular difficulties in any case, the Department tries to deal with them in a sympathetic way.

The customers in question generally have income from their employment and most have opted to wait for payment without availing of the special arrangement. The new system of payment, when fully operational, will represent a considerable improvement in the level of service for customers and a more efficient system of payment, particularly by the branch offices throughout the country.