Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words in this debate. In September 2005, the Economic and Social Research Institute published a document called Trends in Welfare for Vulnerable Groups, Ireland 1994-2001, which examined how such vulnerable groups as children, the elderly and unemployed have fared in our society. In the words of Mr. Christopher Whelan of the ESRI, "Ireland remains a profoundly unequal society". He goes on to state, "A question of justice arises if this persists" and:

If the income gap is big enough across time, there can be potential future problems... People should be able to participate in society at some minimum level without a sense of shame.

What we have created in this country is a profoundly unequal society and it is time we address this to ensure we reverse these trends and commence putting in place a just and fair society.

Since 1998, the rich-poor gap has increased significantly in Ireland to a figure of over €300 per week or over €15,000 per annum. This is not a situation that should continue. The gap has increased at every budget over the past seven or eight budgets. As Mr. Whelan of the ESRI said, everyone should be able to participate in society without a sense of shame and, if this does not happen, there will be profound problems of anti-social behaviour, criminality and social exclusion, with all the difficulties they give rise to down the road. We have all heard that a rising tide lifts all boats, which it does, but if one does not have a boat, one is overpowered by the tide. Unfortunately, a significant number of people in our society have no boats and, as the tide rises, their exclusion from society becomes more deeply entrenched. We have many problems and, unless this trend is reversed, we will have even more serious problems.

It can be different. We have the resources to ensure this is so. We must prioritise people and human services, such as health, education, housing, social welfare and Garda resources, instead of roads, bridges and broadband capacity. Today's priorities are building roads, bridges and broadband capacity and not, unfortunately, human services. This is a social and economic insanity and a very foolish policy. I submitted a question to the Minister for Finance last week and he told me that, over the past eight years, there was a Government surplus on Revenue's accounts amounting to €39.3 billion, which I already knew. In 2004 alone, the surplus was €6.7 billion. The problem is that these surpluses, which were brought about by income over expenditure on a day to day basis, are being spent on roads, bridges and broadband and we are not investing them in human services.

Will the Minister speak with his Cabinet colleagues and suggest that the reasonable social and economic policy would be to build the roads, bridges and broadband capacity out of prudent capital borrowings, which we can do well within European Union guidelines? I am sure we will be told we nearly bankrupted the country by borrowing. Fianna Fáil nearly did this previously but that was borrowing for day to day expenditure. What I or any reasonable and commonsensical economist will tell the Government is that it should borrow for capital projects and we should use the large surpluses of recent years to invest in human services and ensure we start building a fair, just and reasonable society.

The most important infrastructure in a country is a healthy, well educated and well housed population. We need a population in which everyone can play a part and feel a part of society. Unfortunately, this is not the situation at present, which is reflected across a number of areas in the social welfare field. It is particularly evident in the area of child poverty. We have encountered figures from various agencies, including Barnardos, which inform us that nearly 15% of children, or 148,000, live in consistent poverty, a population comparable to the total population of north and south County Tipperary, and a total of 242,000 children live in relative poverty. This occurs at a time when the country is awash with money.

In the forthcoming budget, will the Minister target the whole area of child poverty, particularly increases in child benefit payments? As he knows, the Government reneged twice on promises it made concerning them. Together with many Deputies and agencies, I ask that child benefit rates be increased to €155.92 for the first two children and €192.85 for third and subsequent children in families, and that it be index-linked. The child dependent allowance has not been increased since 1994, 11 years ago. No one seems to know the reason for that or does not want to tell us. The Minister should act on Deputy Seán Ryan's suggestion that the child dependant allowance should at least be doubled in the forthcoming budget.

I have indicated that if we want to use the large surpluses we have at our disposal to prioritise human services, they should be used to properly fund education. We should have reasonable back to school clothing and footwear allowances, of perhaps approximately €200 for a primary school child and €250 for a secondary school child. A once-off grant should be available for children entering first year in secondary school because of additional demands.

Many people are discussing child care and recommendations by various agencies that free child care should be provided in the year prior to attending primary school. I would prefer to see a publicly funded and operated child care facility provided. All children should have medical cards because illness can mean enormous costs. The resources and money are available and whether these services are put in place is a matter of political will.

The social welfare fuel allowance of €9 per week has not been increased since 2001. I bought a tonne of coal and ten bales of briquettes last week. The coal cost €12.70 per bag and a bale of briquettes cost €3.20. An old age pensioner cannot afford a bag of coal with an allowance of €9. As we all know, energy prices have increased enormously recently. Since 1 October the price of gas has increased by 25%, the price of electricity was increased three times during the past two years and the price of home heating oil increased by approximately 50% since this time last year. I hope the Minister will address this issue in the budget. It would not be expensive to do so.

The Minister should focus his attention on carers. I hope the campaigns of the Carers Association will bear fruit in the budget. Everyone knows the situation of carers, but perhaps I need to repeat it. Carers work approximately 6 million hours and approximately 25% of carers are paid. Some carers lose their social welfare payments as a result of being paid and end up caring for a husband, wife, father, mother or relative for approximately €5 per week. I welcome the respite care grant, which has been increased significantly. Carers do an important job on behalf of society. If those elderly and infirm people needed to be cared for in hospitals, nursing homes or long-stay institutions, it would cost the Exchequer enormous amounts of money. The Minister should take on board the case made by the Carers Association and ensure that every carer gets a carer's allowance, and that carers in receipt of social welfare payments are entitled to retain those payments.

I echo the sentiments expressed by Deputy Seán Ryan on the manner in which rent subsidy is dealt with in the case of lone parents who take up part-time employment or a community employment scheme. Numerous individuals fall into this category and they find that having taken up a work opportunity to improve their situations, the rent subsidy is either withdrawn completely or significantly reduced to the extent that working does not benefit them. Most find they cannot continue to work and will revert to the original situation. It is wrong that someone who is prepared to go out to work to better themselves, increase their income and support their families finds the system works against them and they might as well have stayed at home because they would have had the same income. The Minister must examine that.

I know the Minister is not directly responsible for housing aid for the elderly. However, it impinges on this debate. Excellent work is done on a small amount of money to ensure the elderly can live in some comfort. Perhaps a person might need a back door or a window replaced, a roof repaired, a walk-in shower installed or redecoration. Money invested in this area would repay society. Although funding for this scheme has improved during recent years, it needs a significant increase in resources. Throughout the country, applications for this year are either not being examined at all, or have not been examined until now. They will not be dealt with this year. Enough money should be provided to enable examination of all current applications.

I hope the Minister with his Cabinet colleagues will give more priority to human services than to the roads, bridges and broadband. It is a tragedy that roads and broadband are given higher priority when we can achieve both. There is more than enough money. If we use the surpluses on human services such as social welfare and prudently borrow for capital purposes, which is the practical economic norm, then both priorities can be dealt with.

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