Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

It is a great pleasure to address the budget's social welfare aspect. A few years ago when the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Coughlan, was in the post, we came to the House to welcome an increase of approximately €750 million and a massive budget. Last year, the figure was €874 million, and this year we have topped it again. I congratulate the Minister for obviously fighting his corner with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, and selling the message that while others might say there was a great deal of money to start with, the important thing is how it is disbursed. It can be dissipated very quickly or spent well.

It has been a pleasure to be in my constituency this week listening to older people and to the mothers and fathers of young children. A week before the budget, the message was that they would not be forgotten. The same was true of carers of people in the home. Perhaps every sector of society had something good to say about the budget, and many are embraced by the various schemes under the remit of the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

Like other speakers, I start by congratulating not only the Minister but his tremendous departmental staff. As a Member of the House, one is constantly trying to field constituents' questions. The response, support, professionalism, speed, efficiency and courtesy afforded by every member of the Minister's staff with whom I have come into contact have been second to none. We would love to see that repeated everywhere. I do not mean to say there is no efficiency or courtesy in other Departments, but sometimes the speed is lacking. Perhaps the Minister should share his secret with them so that everyone might learn from the great facility that he has.

The speed at which increases have been implemented has been improving for some years. I have been around the House long enough to remember when the increase in the price of petrol was increased at 4 p.m. and was on the pumps by 4.30 p.m. However, the increase in welfare payments was announced at 4 p.m. but not implemented until somewhere between June and September or October of the following year. It was difficult to sell the message that people would get an increase but not just yet. The concept that most increases take effect in January is an extremely important aspect of the announcement.

The Bill will create some new and very welcome anomalies, for example, that of the pensioner who wishes to retain his or her old-age non-contributory pension and still work or potter about, depending how one sees it, for perhaps €100. Such people will have to work out how to get their full pension, perhaps asking accountants to help them prove that their work is at a certain level. Perhaps before they were entitled only to a part pension and will now suffer the trauma of trying to get that information together to earn a full pension. However, I suspect that it is a trauma that most will be quite happy to encounter. It was a very interesting initiative to take on, since one meets many people who hit a certain age and for some reason are supposed to put their feet up. Life was supposed to stop for them. For many, whether they are involved in an interest or a small degree of serious work, that concept of allowing a person to earn is important. It is a great contribution to their mental health and important for their ability to maintain social interaction. It also provides opportunities in communities to allow people who are still very much emotionally capable of doing something constructive to do so legitimately. If there was one thing in the budget with which I was very pleased, it was that new initiative.

Another matter on which I had not really picked up until I started studying it is that the age limit for unemployment assistance and the supplementary welfare allowance has been brought down this year to 25. People living with their parents are not evaluated on their family income; they become an entity in their own right at that point. That narks many adults. Until recently people up to 30 years of age were still under the wing of their parents in that their parents' income had a serious impact on them. I welcome the concept of reducing the age; 25 is the age recommended in the report that raised this issue but there is an argument that if it is reduced too low it will encourage people to take up unemployment assistance immediately when we should be encouraging them into employment. I welcome that measure.

I want to raise a number of issues of concern. I welcome the significant increase in the fuel allowance. That record is played here in every budget debate because every euro of an increase had a serious implication on a national level. The fuel allowance is the only allowance that is not one of the free schemes and therefore there is no mechanism for appeal. I became aware of a person recently who was €3 over the threshold and did not qualify for the allowance. She had no means of appeal because the allowance is not one of the free schemes and it was not an automatic entitlement. As this is a fuel allowance for people who are elderly, should there not be some mechanism whereby people can appeal on medical grounds? Perhaps a sliding scale could be introduced. The income limits have changed and that will cover the type of person I am talking about but it is like the two or three mile rule for school transport — there is always someone who is just that little too far away. I ask the Minister to examine that.

I must raise an issue that is not strictly to do with the Bill. Cross-Border issues remain to be addressed. I am aware of two people who, unfortunately, were let go from the textile industry after 25 years and who have gone to the North to work. These two are in the same difficulty in that both of them, for various reasons and in different ways, became ill and find themselves out of the system again. They applied for unemployment benefit here but because their last income was earned in Northern Ireland, they were told they had to claim in Northern Ireland. When they tried to claim in Northern Ireland, however, they were told that because of a residency clause there they could not claim there. That anomaly exists although I am aware that much good work is going on to try to address it. I bring that to the Minister's attention because it remains a problem.

Child benefit and tax credit issues have arisen also for people who are employed. In that regard, I live in an area where people do not see the Border. They go where there is work and if there are impediments to facilitating that, it is worth examining them to see if they can be overcome.

On the back to education allowance, the focus is to provide an incentive to return to education, particularly to lone parents, because we all know education is the key to a better life. Is the Minister in a position to talk to the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, regarding the recognition of NVQ courses, particularly in the North? That is another of my North-South issues. Many people go to the North to do NVQ courses but because they are not HNDs, they are not recognised for educational grant aid purposes. They are not eligible for any of the back to education grants, although I may be wrong about that. I am aware they are unable to get grant aid for the NVQs because it is not recognised as a high enough achievement but it is important that people who left school early and want to get back into education are given every opportunity to do that. If people want to get off the dole and back to education, we should try to do something to help them help themselves.

I was surprised to hear Deputy McCormack strongly raise the issue of the home help service because the day after the budget the Tánaiste announced a significant improvement in that regard. Trying to help the elderly, which the Minister has done in the social welfare aspect of the budget, embraces all those issues including the need to keep people at home and allow their carers to be in a position where they can afford to look after them.

Community employment schemes are doing tremendous work in many areas but in that regard it is a case of congratulating the Minister for reducing the number of people who are on the double, so to speak. Some CE schemes are finding it difficult to get enough people to take up the schemes to keep them in operation. There should be a stronger link between the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and FÁS because word has got out that if one does not turn up, nothing will happen. Some of those running the schemes say they do not want people to be forced to take up community employment because they will just work against the system but in my first years as a Member of the Dáil I spent most of my time trying to find ways of helping people get out of taking up a scheme because they had a bad back, arm or whatever. Some of those cases worked and others did not but it was uncanny that within a short period, the number of people who were fighting to stay on the scheme had increased. The letters written to try to get people off schemes became letters asking that they be kept on for a few more years. There is still an issue. If the unemployment level in a particular area is high and a CE scheme is in jeopardy, why are more questions not asked about it?

The Minister has made changes to the back to work allowance but I want to voice one concern in that regard. I am aware of many people who worked in the electrical or plumbing trades — it is generally the trades — for the past 15, 20 or 25 years who used to employ people but the back to work allowance has encouraged some people to set up business on their own. Because they are getting a back to work payment they are able to undercut the person who has been in employment for a considerable length of time. Some people call that competition but others call it something else. I am not against it but a balance needs to be struck. We do not want any displacement or unfair competition whereby a person getting an allowance can undercut another person by €50 or €100 in a contract. Those are the types of issues arising. It is difficult to pick holes in this particular issue and that is the reason I am going slightly outside it.

A total of 1.5 million people will benefit from the improvements in the Bill and while many of the improvements are for the elderly and the very young, the ones for the unemployed are welcome. Constituencies like mine that have taken a severe hit from the textile industry would rather not have to consider the vista of checking to see how much the social welfare allowances have increased. The fact they have been increased by four times the rate of inflation is welcome. I encourage the Minister to help the interdepartmental working group which is examining the issue of the response to the job losses in Donegal. This would mean I could look for tax cuts in the next budget rather than increases in unemployment assistance. The people of Donegal are quite proud. Factories which are closing have received Labour Court recommendations and we hope they will be able to make redundancy payments above the statutory minimum.

We are fed up talking about issues relating to statutory redundancy payments and want to discuss employment issues instead. I welcome the increases in payments for people who cannot get jobs and the incentives to boost people's participation in the workforce. I like to think that the Minister supports the work of the interdepartmental working group dealing with Donegal.

There has been an increase of more than €26 in the carer's allowance, which brings it to €200 per week. Some commentators have argued that the fact that carers are allowed to work for 15 hours per week instead of ten and still qualify for carer's allowance and benefit or the respite care grant is not a cause for great excitement. However, not all carers can be grouped in the same category and if a person needs and has the ability to work for ten or 15 hours per week, he or she should be allowed to do so. My own experience is that a change is as good as a rest. An ability and a wish to do something different should be commended. I understand that this is the highest payment yet and it has been recognised that carers are the first group to receive it. This is a very important signal from the Minister.

The former Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, introduced the respite care grant payment, which was one of the most significant measures in the 1999 budget. I know the difficulty experienced by elderly carers who look after middle-aged relatives. The respite care grant gives a break to people who do not want to unburden themselves of their caring responsibilities and it has significantly helped this group.

The major changes relating to families are very important. There appears to be a rush of births and one would think people inside the Dáil had insider information. Deputy Kelleher and my constituency colleague have had good news in this regard. I do not know if Deputy Naughten has made an announcement but he showed an interest on the Order of Business in the length of maternity leave. However, I am not insinuating anything. There has been justified focus on looking after young children.

I am glad the Minister for Education and Science is present because I have a request to make of her and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. I am sure Deputy Stanton is fed up listening to me argue that young children develop more quickly when they are exposed to the arts.

See this speech in context