Dr. Tricia Keilthy:

The point Senator Conway made about how we determine how social welfare increases are implemented is really important. We have been advocating for it being grounded in evidence and that the evidence base is provided by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice. As that minimum essential standard of living is used by the Insolvency Service of Ireland to determine living costs, it has stood the test of the courts. It is accepted by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in that the qualified child increase, QCI, for older children was increased last year based on that research. It not only provides where the needs are greatest but it also provides that whole-of-government framework because we can see where costs need to be reduced. For example, if primary and secondary school were genuinely free, the rate of the QCI would not need to be increased by as much as the cost of living would be reduced as well. It is a really important framework.

There is a challenge in terms of the cost of disability and how it is determined. The NCBI mentioned the work that was undertaken by the Vincentian partnership to outline the additional costs faced by someone with a visual impairment but the cost will differ based on the disability. There is quite a broad-ranging piece of work that needs to be done but it is very important. In terms of the transition to employment, in research that we conducted last year fear of loss of the medical card came up increasingly. There is a campaign to be done to help people understand what benefits they can retain if they do take up employment. As Mr. Reid pointed out, there is that three-year cliff and the uncertainty around what happens there. It is important to state that the thresholds for the medical card have not increased since 2005 so they are still well below all social welfare rates. That needs to be looked at but obviously the overarching goal is universal health care in order that there is no means testing and it is just available to everybody based on need, not based on income.

I would like to talk a little bit about Brexit because we are really concerned about the impact it will have on the people we are assisting. We know that if there is a no-deal Brexit, we are going to see an increase in food and energy prices that will disproportionately hit people on low incomes. In terms of budget choices, it is really important that those on the lowest incomes are safeguarded. We do not want a repeat of the previous recession where those on the lowest incomes, particularly low-income women, took the hit for austerity. In the forthcoming national action plan for social inclusion, we need to be ambitious around that and ensure there are safeguards in place if we are faced with another recession.