For weeks now there has been a chaotic breakdown in the delivery of illness benefit by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. My colleagues in the Oireachtas and in local authorities across the country have shared information with me about a succession of very challenging cases. People have been left for weeks without payment. This morning, a Labour Party councillor in Wexford spoke to a woman, who is in work, who is awaiting an appointment to have surgery. She has no money to buy food and today she had to resort to getting vouchers from the Society of St. Vincent De Paul; thank God they were there.

People have been given minimum payments instead of their full entitlement. In one case I dealt with, a person was offered €33 to cover two weeks payments. In another case, a woman who called to my advice clinic advised she had to wait nine weeks for a payment.

There is a social protection helpline available to Members of the Oireachtas, but calls are not being answered effectively. In a statement issued this morning the Department accepts this fact. It is greatly impeding our ability as public representatives to respond to the needs of persons who are waiting day by day to receive money to which they are fully entitled. Urgent action is required. I understand there have been IT difficulties that have led to delays in processing forms GPs send to certify people's unfitness to work.

The bottom line is that people who are off work owing to illness or an injury are not receiving the money for which they have paid through an insurance fund and on which they are absolutely dependent. It is leaving them in dire straits. In addition, some long-standing recipients of illness benefit have found that their payments have stopped suddenly. Many of those who depend solely on this payment have been left with no money whatsoever for a number of weeks, placing them in an impossible position. No adequate explanation has been provided by the Department or the Minister as to why this has happened. The Minister claims to have consulted the IMO and that her Department has written to all contracted GPs setting out the changes that have happened recently. The commitment given by the Minister to continue to consult the IMO is not the same as actually stepping in to solve the problems people have. Will the Government clarify when it will engage directly in actions to end the delays and ensure all overdue payments will be made to those affected who are in dire need of money?

I will come back to the Deputy with a detailed answer from the Minister.

The Minister has not been seen in the House in the past two months since the problem first arose.

My understanding is the Minister is endeavouring to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Of course, it is unacceptable that those who rely on illness benefit are not able to receive the basic income they should expect and are entitled to receive from the State. Whether there are IT or negotiation issues in dealing with concerns about delays in obtaining information from GPs, I understand the Minister is dealing with the issue to try to resolve it. People who are in dire need of money should certainly speak to the community welfare officer in the short term, but that is not a sustainable answer. What is needed is for the system to deliver illness benefit payments on time in a predictable manner in order that people's income payments will arrive into their home when expected. I will come back with a more detailed answer from the Minister, rather than give the Deputy any further information.

The Tánaiste tells me what is needed; the Government and the Department should be doing it. We are talking about working people who are paying PRSI. When they are ill, awaiting an operation or injured, they expect the insurance system into which they have paid to provide what they are entitled to, yet that is not happening as the system has collapsed. It has not been happening for weeks. I read the press release issued by the Department this morning and it was a case of more excuses. Genuinely, the people with whom I have dealt in my office in Wexford and those who are attending colleagues' offices across the country are in dire need. The matter must be dealt with as a matter of urgency. I accept that the Tánaiste will come back to me to tell me what has happened, but I hope he will come back to me today to tell me when this matter will be resolved in order that people will not be without the benefit payments to which they are entitled.

I received a note while the Deputy was asking his supplementary question. The Department wants to reassure all customers that they will be paid the correct amount up to the end of the period of their illness as certified by their GP. No customer will lose out in respect of-----

That is no good. It is a case of live horse, get grass.

The Department is working to address the issue and hopes to have it resolved quickly. It is assigning additional staff to claim processing work to enable other experienced staff to be dedicated to call answering and dealing with customer queries. It recognises that, owing to the high level of calls to the illness benefit section, customers have not been able to reach a dedicated staff member to discuss their illness benefit claim. Additional staff are being assigned from other departmental sections and will be dedicated to the customer phone line. The Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, has sought a detailed report from the Department on how the changes to the illness benefit scheme were communicated to customers, including timelines for changes and the rationale for decisions taken on timing. We are working to resolve this issue and will get it done as quickly as we can.