Before Xmas I queried the Minister about the numbers of people refused carers’ allowance initially, who are then forced to appeal (which takes months) before being accepted. I also asked about the dramatic rise in the numbers of people penalised under the Jobpath scheme from 63 in 2015 to 5,681 in 2018. She responded defensively (a lot of waffle is cut from this video clip) but bottom line is FG could care less about the vulnerable in society

 

I put a number of questions to the Minister for Social Protection at Dáil committee. The discussion was about the forthcoming budget. I asked her about pensions, and when pensioners that had been discriminated against could expect the back-money owed to them, as well as asking about fuel poverty, low pay, new jobs, carers’ allowence and supports for low-income families with older children still in school. Her answers were mostly ‘wait and see’, and can be viewed here https://bit.ly/2xGuS0a. Pensioners though, should be getting their money as soon as the government recruits enough staff to process the claims. How long did it take to process banker’s bailouts? overnight, as far as I can remember.