As I said earlier, I compliment the staff of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs on the way they treat Deputies. Many of the problems in social welfare arise from anomalies that come about because of the different schemes. I compliment the Minister for one thing he has done. During his term of office many of the anomalies that existed were addressed. Many other speakers referred to other little items that need to be addressed. Given the complex nature of work within the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, these anomalies will continue to arise.
The Minister has made some welcome changes in disability benefit. As stated in the Bill's supporting documentation, some people who feel they can return to work and do so, find within a short period that the illness or disability does not allow them to continue to work and unfortunately they must go back on disability benefit. The change made in the Bill allows them to return to the scheme without having to go through a process of qualification again. However, what will happen to the requirement to be on disability benefit for 12 months before qualifying for invalidity benefit and for the free schemes? Is there a link?
Every Deputy who has spoken has mentioned the carer's allowance and the means test. I lend my support to the call for the Government to continue to try to eliminate the means test. No carer should be deprived of the allowance because of the means test. Carers are the unsung heroes of society. I heard Deputy Noel Ahern being critical of the members of the Carers' Association. I do not share his views. They feel they have been left behind in relation to some of the social welfare advancements and have to fight their own battle to try to get political parties to realise the problems, concerns and worries they have and to recognise the work they put in to ensure their loved ones are given a proper and better life. Ultimately the people in receipt of care should be able to have a better way of life and a better opportunity to become involved in their family and community. That is what the carers try to do.
Whereas changes have been made, it would be preferable to remove the means test completely. While one welcomes the respite care grant, one can also see the problems in relation to respite care itself. I have seen many cases where people could financially afford a holiday, but were unable do so because there was no respite place to which their child, brother or sister could go, due to the lack of respite care in the health service. This must be addressed in the short-term. If we can change the situation regarding respite and long-term care, this will release many of the beds that at present are taken up by these unfortunate patients in the general hospital service. Doing that will allow the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs to further develop the respite grant scheme. Other Deputies have spoken about families caring for loved ones for 20 or 30 years without ever having a break. Any Member of the House could mention cases where that occurs. We must ensure the people who apply and receive the payment are in a position to benefit from it by ensuring the person being cared for can go to a hospital or nursing home for that respite period.
The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs uses the health boards as agencies for supplying deposit and rent allowance. Lone parents, senior citizens and others in receipt of social welfare have a major problem in getting proper rented accommodation. There is a waste of money in some cases where there is a row between the landlord and the applicant. Is the deposit supplied by the health board ever recouped back into the system to allow some other unfortunate person to get the deposit? In some cases the community welfare officer may suggest these unfortunate people could save up the deposit. It is absolutely impossible for people in this position to get £400 or £500 over a short period. If the overall picture is considered and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs with the Department of Health and Children and the health boards investigate this they will find there is a better way forward and a more even handed way of dealing with the matter so that the unfortunate people who seek these payments will be relieved of many of the worries and concerns they have. I welcome the local community grants which were also mentioned. Many local areas have benefited as a result of such grants. However, the good work which was done in recent years will be wiped out because of the increase in public liability insurance. What will happen to local groups which cater for senior citizens, lone parents, etc.? The people who run such services must now try to organise other functions to pay for the increase in public liability insurance on community halls where these groups work. It will be a major problem in the future if something is not done to alleviate it.
I welcome the development of the education grant scheme, although it will probably not deal with the anomalies I mentioned earlier. One such anomaly is where a person in full-time employment becomes ill and is not able to work. When he or she seeks alternative ways to earn a salary, he or she realises he or she must go through the education system. I know of a case where a 29 year old carpenter, who was ill, wanted to get a third level education grant. However, because he was not on the unemployment register for six months he did not qualify for the grant. I ask the Minister to investigate that. If an illness is verified by the medical profession, the person should be allowed to qualify for the back to education allowance. I do not understand why facilities cannot be provided to enable people to better themselves through the education system. If a person gives up a job because of an illness which is verified by the medical profession, he or she should be allowed to seek alternative employment through the education system.
As regards senior citizens and those, particularly married couples, who have paid social welfare contributions over the years, a dependent who is in receipt of a payment through his or her spouse may have stamps in his or her own right but not enough for an individual payment. I dealt with one case recently where the person was entitled to almost half the payment but because the payment for the dependent spouse was greater, she did not need to apply. One wonders if that person was entitled to the payment and if the payment to her spouse could have been diluted by that amount. In that way the person who made the contributions many years ago and whose money funded the social welfare system could feel they were getting some of their money back. The main income was provided by one person during all the years the couple were married. However, when that person retires, is it possible for the other person to get some of the income created over the years? Perhaps the Minister could comment on that in his reply to the House.
Free travel is of major benefit to senior citizens and it was mentioned numerous times this morning. There is a scheme in Cavan and in other parts of the country where private operators accept the travel pass and recoup the payment from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs. That is a great idea, but it should be done on a more widespread basis. The last time I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister on that issue, I was told that nine or ten groups were involved in such a scheme. That number could be increased dramatically to benefit people. In my constituency of Kildare South private transport is provided for people who must travel to Dublin in the mornings for hospital or business appointments because there is not a public bus or ambulance service. A number of buses travel through Athy every morning at 7 o'clock on their way to Dublin. If the scheme was available, the people with free travel passes could benefit from it. It is obvious the Department has facilitated this scheme in other areas. I ask it to publicise it more and to make it available to the travel agents throughout the country. In that way we would create a private transport web to complement the public transport system which is not able to facilitate the people about whom I am speaking.
The Minister listened to the other Members of the House today who spoke about decentralisation. Athy has been designated under the RAPID programme for investment. If the Minister believes that some place in Leinster needs a section of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, Athy is the obvious place.