Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I want to raise three issues, particularly in regard to women. The Deputy is right, people often come into our clinics, particularly women when they reach pension age, whose husbands have worked all their lives and they get the qualifying allowance of 70%, but that is not the issue. I am aware they can apply for it in their own right but in any review of pensions the question of giving women their own pensions should be considered. They should not have to depend on their husbands. If they are entitled to one through the husband's earnings, that is fine, but it should be paid to the women and they should not have to make application for it. Many women come into my clinic who have to make application because their husbands may be very well off but very mean and they may not get the portion of the pension to which they are entitled. Rather than women having to apply for this, the pension is paid to them automatically. If a woman is entitled to a portion of her husband's pension it should be paid to her.

Coming back to the debate on child benefit and child dependant allowance, child benefit is paid to every child in the State and child dependant allowance is paid to people on social welfare. Child dependant allowance has not been raised in ten years. I would argue in favour of child dependant allowance. It is very difficult and costly to rear a child now. Every year they get the €16.80, €19.60, €21.60 or whatever the rate is, but I have been asking the Minister for many years to increase the three rates to the higher rate. A family may get a €10 or €12 increase in the budget every year but if there is no increase in the child dependant allowance it is very difficult for them. It holds back their payment. Everybody gets the child benefit. Even millionaires are entitled to it, but I have to make the argument regarding child dependant allowance.

I want to ask the Minister a question and he may not be able to respond today but he may respond in a committee. I hear people talking in pubs and in the media about abuse of the lone-parent payment. How many people have been prosecuted for abusing the lone-parents law? Does the Minister have that statistic available to him? How many have been brought to court and prosecuted for drawing the lone-parent allowance when they should not have been doing so? I would like the Minister to answer that question.

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