Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The Minister outlined that it was back in 1993 when the last Social Welfare (Consolidation) Bill was initiated. I join with other Members who congratulated staff who pulled this Bill together. If it simplifies and helps people to understand their rights and entitlements in plain language without the legalese, then it will be a more than worthwhile piece of work. If it leads to the removal of anomalies in the system, then it will be more than worthwhile because we, as elected representatives, are usually left to try to sort through anomalies. In many cases, anomalies also highlight the unfairness of the system.

I also welcome this Social Welfare (Consolidation) Bill if it means a reduction in the bureaucracy faced by people trying to make or access a claim but I do not know if it will do so. Anyone who has ever claimed or tried to access social welfare will be familiar with the story of being sent from pillar to post and back again only to be told they had the wrong form or needed to get another one signed and stamped. I hope the streamlining of this legislation will result in an easier passage for those interacting with the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

I am also concerned about the failure to take-up many benefits under the remit of the Department of Social and Family Affairs and I have raised this issue with the Minister on a number of occasions. I do not know whether this is the appropriate area. I have spoken before about people having personal public service, PPS, and revenue and social insurance, RSI, numbers. A computerised system should be able to indicate when people are entitled to benefits. It is unfortunate that many people who are entitled to take up benefits are not aware of their entitlements. There is a 30% take-up of the family income supplement, so 70% are not taking it up. There are other areas where 20% to 25% fail to take-up their entitlements. If we are talking about consolidating legislation and moving things forward, we need to introduce a system to ensure people get their entitlements. There is controversy at present over new technology in the Health Service Executive, but it can be a positive way to move things forward and ensure people get their entitlements.

I would like to think the Minister shares my view that root and branch reform is needed in various areas of social welfare. I look forward to seeing legislation on how he proposes to streamline the social welfare system which will reflect the needs and aspirations of those who have been left behind over the wealth-producing years. There is a need to respect the dignity of those forced to claim benefit. Why then in this era of new technology must people queue outside post offices in all weathers to collect their entitlements?

Many more substantive issues have been mentioned in this debate. There is the scandal of the paltry back to school clothing and footwear allowance for which not even all those on family income supplement qualify. This is a scandal when one thinks that the cost of sending a child to primary school is now €357 and that it can be as high as €547 for a student going to secondary school. When people on low incomes cannot even receive the paltry back to school clothing and footwear allowance, is it any wonder that the recent vocational education committee survey found that an area such as Rathmines has a 60% third level progression rate but that a working class area such as Finglas has a 7.8% rate?

I support the call of the respected children's advocate, Barnardos, for an increase in the back to school clothing and footwear allowance to €150 for a younger child and €200 for older children as an absolute minimum. I also call for an immediate increase in the income threshold for those who qualify for it. At present not all those on family income supplement qualify for the scheme. This puts a severe financial strain on those in low paid work, especially when it comes to sending a child to school. It is very unfair that the financial pressures on parents would have a negative impact on a child's education, yet the figures from the recent VEC report state exactly that.

Does the Minister intend to take action on the fuel allowance? A sum of €12.30 would not heat a home for a single person, let alone a family. Is the Minister aware of the difficulties being experienced by recipients? Has he spoken to anyone trying to manage on social welfare? The price of fuel has rocketed due to various events and I assure the Minister that the ESB has acted accordingly with a 25% increase in the price of electricity. Will the Minister respond to this new reality for social welfare recipients? If he does not, even more people will be vulnerable to fuel poverty this winter, particularly the elderly and the young. Recently three homeless people died on the streets of Dublin. Do we want to see even more vulnerable people die in badly heated accommodation? I do not think so.

There is also a need for a much more holistic and interdepartmental approach and for greater joined-up Government to tackle poverty and its causes. Some 77,000 children in this State go to school hungry. Will the Minister give a commitment to increase liaison with the Department of Education and Science to find new ways to address this growing crisis?

As regards bringing people back into the workplace, the Minister will be well aware of the types of obstacles in people's way such as child care, finance and transport. Figures show that lone parents have much lower levels of educational attainment and it is a major factor in condemning those mothers and their children to a life of poverty and social welfare dependency. Surely the most effective way to address this and to ensure fewer people find themselves in that position in future is to increase the current levels of support for and investment in education schemes aimed at that group.

A recent report on the social situation in the European Union identified one of the reasons for the poverty gap as a lower spend on job training, start-up schemes and programmes to integrate those with disabilities into the workforce. This State invests less than 2% of gross domestic product on such initiatives which does not lead me to believe that we are serious about reducing inequality.

The statistics on access to third level education I quoted earlier show the role disadvantage plays in inequality. It is also clear that no one Department can deal with this problem. To this end, I ask the Minister for a commitment to support an initiative which will start next year. Atlantic Philanthropies has pledged half of the €5.6 million needed to implement the project. It will look to the Minister's Department and others to make up the difference. The project involves monitoring 140 children from the estates of Darndale, Belcamp and Moatview. It is designed to maximise intervention from the appropriate bodies, one of which will be the Minister's Department, to identify problems before they occur and to prepare the children for school up to the age of five. I hope the Minister will support this scheme.

I welcome the Bill and look forward to the promised legislation which will begin to address seriously the inequalities in society. Other speakers spoke about imagination and vision which are badly needed in this area, as is a fresh and innovative approach.

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