John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before calling on the Minister to reply, I have one or two brief comments. I will not go over all the comments that were made. The Minister said: "The ongoing fall in the live register is freeing up resources that we need to meet additional demand in other areas..." On a no-change basis, comparing 2016 to 2015, what additional funding would that free up, given the decline of numbers in receipt of jobseeker's allowance?

I welcome the Minister's comment on bringing the Christmas bonus forward at budget time. He might indicate what percentage rate he has in mind and if it will be the full rate.

I have a vested interest in the self-employed because I was self-employed for over 20 years before entering politics. For the past decade, I have been a director of a community enterprise centre, so I see many self-employed people. They are vulnerable and at risk. Most people who are running successful businesses today failed at first. That is the reality. The problem for them is accessing any support because they do not have that type of paperwork. They may have money in a bank account and debts to match. It is difficult for them to plead a case with any social welfare officer if they are coming from a failed business. Self-employed people are a particular niche and I am not suggesting for one moment that they should get something for free.

People are prepared to pay but at the moment they are excluded from an awful lot. Self-employed people make a significant contribution to the economy, yet they are not supported in the same way as an employee might be. It is not solely a budgetary figure. It is a question of how we develop policy over a number of years and that requires some attention.

Some members of the committee spoke about budgetary cuts affecting the elderly. The reality for older people is that reductions in the fuel allowance, electricity allowance and the removal of the telephone allowance have impacted on them. Approaching any budget, the Minister will be restricted in terms of what is available to his Department. Are there other ways of dealing with things rather than just adding an additional three, four or five euro? Does the Department have the capacity to buy electricity, gas and telephone units, thus supplying people with better value than they could obtain themselves?

We all campaigned during the winter in the previous general election and I was very taken by meeting older people living alone. Their heating bill is the same as if two people were living in the house. Such people stay in bed all day in winter because they cannot afford to heat the house. That is my abiding memory of the previous election. More commonly it was older people living alone who raised the issue. They have fewer opportunities to look after themselves and are more vulnerable as a result. I hope the Minister will take that cohort into consideration in the forthcoming budget.

The issue of direct provision needs to be addressed as well as the payment because both things go hand in hand. It has gone on for too long and it is an inappropriate system of accommodation. The payment might be the Minister's responsibility, but the Oireachtas needs to address the issue in a more substantial manner. The €19 payment has been around for as long as I can remember, so it needs to be addressed.

I thank the Minister for his attendance here today. A number of questions and issues have been raised, so the Minister will now have an opportunity to reply. He has invited the committee to make further submissions to him in advance of the budget and I expect we will do so by means of correspondence.