Legal rights organisations call for scrutiny of Social Welfare Bill

Legal rights organisations have called for a change to Government plans to amend the social welfare code, particularly as it impacts young people, people living in Direct Provision, and those appealing social welfare decisions.

Community Law & Mediation (CLM) and FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) have raised concerns over the Social Welfare Bill 2016, calling for adequate time to be given for thorough debate and scrutiny of the bill.

Eilis Barry, chief executive of FLAC, said: “The Minister for Social Protection said on Budget Day that the government wants to ‘ensure that the recovery benefits everyone and nobody is left behind’.

“Unfortunately this Bill as it is currently framed will continue to leave people behind, which is why we are calling for significant changes in it.”

FLAC has called for young jobseekers to receive the full increased payment of €193 rather than a reduced rate.

FLAC and CLM also expressed concerns over a provision requiring employers to provide information on employees for the purpose of determining entitlement to child benefit.

Rose Wall, CEO of CLM, said: “The necessity for such a measure is unclear given the responsibility on all social welfare applicants to prove to the Department of Social Protection that they qualify for the payment they are applying for and the availability of information to the Department regarding social insurance contributions.

“We await more information from the Department concerning the necessity of this measure.”

The organisations have also criticised the absence of proposals to increase allowance for those living in Direct Provision, despite the McMahon report recommendations and calls from the UN.

Ms Barry said: “We are calling on the government to meet basic human rights standards and put the Direct Provision allowance on a statutory basis in this bill, so that we do not have this shameful bypassing of this extremely vulnerable group every year.”

The two organisations also voiced concerns around the abolition of Mortgage Interest Supplement.

The groups said Ireland’s social welfare appeals system must be based on international human rights standards, calling for the Social Welfare Appeals Office to be placed on a statutorily independent footing rather than under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection.