I remind colleagues that this business must conclude at 6.09 p.m. There are three speakers offering. I call Deputy McNamara.

I support the motion. The Labour Party has been leading the way regarding what we perceive to be the reduction or diminution in community welfare officer services at the most local level for a long time now. While many people will easily interact with a freephone number and that will capture perhaps a new audience, many vulnerable people living in rural areas will not have the wherewithal to go to local Intreo offices. I continue to make this case to the Minister and ask that this be looked at again. We need to bri…

I ask the Minister for Social Protection whether income disregards could be reviewed for the purpose of assessment of means for carer's allowance with a view to ensuring the income of spouses, civil partners or cohabitants, where they work overtime, will not disbar an applicant from eligibility for carer's allowance.

The Minister will be aware of the specific case to which I referred, even though I have anonymised the details. I welcome the fact the Minister will carry out a review. I take her at her word in that regard. I acknowledge the fact the Government has increased the income disregard from €665 to €750 for a couple. The scenario I am talking about involves a couple where there were two parents, one of whom is working while the second forgoes a career to care for a son or daughter and also forgoes a lot of opportunities,…

The incremental, but substantial, improvements made under the Minister's mandate are acknowledged. The scenario I am talking about is where a spouse has to work all of the hours God gives them to bring income into a family while their spouse is caring for a person, but all of a sudden the income is gone. It puts tremendous pressure on the family. If something could be done in respect of the income disregard I would welcome that. I would be happy to furnish the Minister with further details of this particular family…

The Minister is in government.

I thank An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for letting me in. I have two simple questions. Could that potentially apply to somebody who was caring for somebody for a period and was eligible for carer's allowance, for example, where a person had an intellectual disability in the first instance and second, where a domiciliary care allowance might have applied in the lifetime of a carer?

Will the Minister outline in tabular form the number of applications received in 2022 for disability allowance, domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance, the number that were awarded, and the number of applications under appeal? I will not have sight of those as we are here, but I will have sight of those in the reply later on.

I welcome the comprehensive set of figures there, but it is glaring that across disability allowance, domiciliary care allowance, and carer's allowance applications, there are approximately 5,000 appeals for disability allowance, 2,000 appeals for domiciliary care allowance, and 3,500 for carer's allowance. I have posed the question because if there is a way of further streamlining the process, particularly for parents where applications are made for domiciliary care allowance, this would be very helpful. This is o…

What we have is a situation where one consultant or medical professional is overturning the decision of another. This, effectively, is what is happening when the medical examiner looks at the case. For example, I go to my consultant who knows me, has a relationship with me and completely understands the nature of my complaint. That could then be overturned by somebody who never meets the applicant, who never interacts with the applicant and who is making a decision against the applicant. It has always been thus, an…

There is no testimony more compelling than that of Deputy Boyd Barrett today because that is a first-hand account. If that does not impact on all of us, and particularly on the Government, then we are in cold times as regards the promulgation of this legislation. I put forward this amendment on Committee Stage because like others, we in the Opposition feel so constrained in seeking to amend legislation. The only tool we have in our toolkit so as to avoid a charge on the Exchequer is to put down these amendments and…

To be fair, one could have anticipated the Minister's response because it is consistent with the response on Committee Stage. I was hopeful there would be some movement by the Minister in respect of what we were seeking to do in amendment No. 2. I share the views of Deputy Cairns in respect of the culture that seemingly exists within the Department in respect of the freedom of information request that was put in by Elaine Loughlin and Conall Ó Fátharta, as reported in yesterday's Irish Examiner , which reported: "P…

I proposed this amendment and there are five seconds left in the slot.

The idea that people cannot institute civil proceedings if they receive a payment is something that will be revisited in law. This will come back to haunt us. There is no doubt about it.

I raised the issue of the role of chief deciding officer on Committee Stage. There is still no clarity as to the status of that role. Will it be a Civil Service role? Will it be subject to the Public Appointments Service process? What grade will the appointed person be? Is there an equivalent grade within the Civil Service in respect of that role? What role will public representatives have? I draw similarities between when I make representations to the HSE or the Department of Social Protection. There are any numbe…

I need to know, in simple terms, whether I can make representations on behalf of my constituents who present to me regarding their interactions with the office that is to be set up?

I welcome the motion and support it. I welcome the Minister of State's response because there is a tacit acknowledgement of the challenge that faces all of us in respect of the provision of services through CAMHS. I think everybody accepts the report of the Mental Health Commission and the recommendations therein. I am particularly taken by the part of the Minister of State's speech where she refers to CAMHS teams. She said: CAMHS teams receive and triage nearly 21,000 referrals annually and deliver 225,000 appoint…

There is a glaring inconsistency between what is happening in the Cork and Kerry region and the Galway region, if I am being a bit cheeky about it, or the Waterford region. The figures are incomparable.

In CHO 1, the Donegal region, there are 603 people waiting longer than 12 months whereas in CHO 2, the Galway region or the west of Ireland, there are 24. To go back to my earlier point, if someone presents to a hospital with an acute medical condition, they will get their surgery or intervention, they will get the medicine they need and they will get it pretty much straight away once they are inside the door of the hospital, primary care setting or secondary care setting. When it comes to mental health services fo…

That is wrong. There are many people out there - and I do not mean this in a patronising way - who may not have the capacity to advocate or the wherewithal to phone their local public representatives. They should not have to do that to get access to a service. This is such a sensitive issue that one does not wish to be political or partisan about it but we are not seeing an improvement in the waiting lists, year on year. What the report of the Mental Health Commission showed us was illustrative, but it probably jus…