I support what Deputy Dr. O'Connell suggested—that some inquiry should be made. Could the Minister ensure that these people are informed that, when they are allocating funds, they are awarded by the public, are subscribed to by the people who are getting them in the form of rates and taxes, that they do not come out of the assistants' or officers' pockets personally, which is the attitude held in a number of cases.

That is a separate question.

That is a very important aspect.

The question relates to persons in the first line of contact.

Poor law is gone.

It is a very important matter, one in which I am very interested, to ensure that, at all times, courtesy and helpfulness prevail.

Hear, hear.

I know from experience, not through the Department of Social Welfare alone but throughout Departments generally, that it is difficult to get away from an attitude of former years in which the public servant felt that it was his duty to husband public funds to the greatest possible extent and release them only when there was no other course available. Certainly the official attitude in the Department of Social Welfare, and indeed in the Department of Health, is that if a member of the general public is entitled to something, he is so entitled and is not under any compliment to anybody; it is his statutory right as a citizen. I think most people in the Department understand that. It is difficult, I suppose, to ensure that, at all times the right, courteous, helpful, patient attitude prevails.