Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To speak to amendment No. 40, 15% represents a sizeable amount of money and would impact very harshly on families with children in circumstances in which the social welfare payment for dependent children is small anyway. It would bring back a lone parent with one child to the basic social welfare rate applying to an individual.

There is a bit of a paradox here. I remember being contacted about the property tax by a person who asked if the Department of Social Protection could deduct it, which would be a cheaper way to pay. The person would not have to pay the monthly amount in the post office if that were the case. The answer from the Department of Social Protection was that it could not do that as it would bring the person below the supplementary welfare rate deemed necessary for that person to live. It was the basic minimum rate on which a person could live.

This could have the effect of drawing people below the supplementary welfare rate. I draw attention in particular to the fact that it will be families with children who are worst impacted. In the circumstances, 15% is a large amount of money in addition to the rent persons would also be paying. That was my thinking in formulating the amendment.