John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to speak on this very important Bill. Given that the budget has allocated €12 billion to the Department, obviously it has a major responsibility in helping families and those on low incomes. That is the essence of public service for those in need, especially those in receipt of old age pensions and social welfare, those affected by child and family poverty, and carers. That is the critical mass to be addressed. Many of those in receipt of weekly social welfare payments are on old age and related pensions. This is a major Department and an enormous amount of money is involved.

To get equity into the system, it is important to assess those most in need and decide how best to deal with the new poor in the economy. Deputy Crawford has spoken about carers. Governments have always striven to give increased benefits to carers of older people in particular and in this regard the home care package is very important and good value for money. The costs of keeping people in nursing homes are enormous, even allowing for subvention rates. Families often must come up with hundreds of euro, but in many instances they could cope if they were given an increased subvention to look after elderly parents at home. This could be easily regulated through the Health Service Executive.

The nursing home subvention is important. What is very unfair about it, however, is the wide variation in subvention rates. In Sligo, for example, it is €190 while in Dublin it can be €450. This is unfair from the viewpoint of people who operate nursing homes because costs are quite similar in many respects. Will the Minister indicate why there are different rates of subvention? If a patient is fortunate enough to get a place in a nursing home in Dublin, the family might have only to pay €200. The same family would have to find €500 for a nursing home place in Sligo. The difference is difficult to explain to nursing home operators and it is clearly not equitable.

As for other social welfare measures, the increase in the fuel scheme from €9 to €14 is welcome even though another anomaly has arisen with ESB bills. A woman told me last week her ESB bill was €108. It contained a VAT element of €14, so perhaps the Minister might look at a derogation of VAT on ESB bills for people on pensions and living alone. The fact that this VAT is not reclaimable and that it is 13.5% means it is yet another element of tax.

An enhanced carer's allowance rate of €200 a week for people aged 66 and over and €180 for those under 66 is welcome. The area of caring for people at home needs to be looked at, however. The State can get great value for money.

One of the tax incentives to be retained relates to the building of nursing homes and private hospitals. An obligation should be imposed on such ventures to provide sufficient public places as well at a fixed rate. In some cases such facilities can be very exclusive. The State should ensure that the equivalent of Part V of the Planning and Development Act which deals with affordable housing is put in place for such projects to ensure that an agreed number of public beds is facilitated. This would mean an integration of patients as well and this is to be encouraged. Availability in some of the privately built nursing homes is primarily targeted at VHI patients. If they were obliged to give 25% to the State for public beds that would ensure balance.

Caring for older people is certainly the most important issue of all and the five-year child care strategy is also crucial. I compliment Deputy Stanton on all the work he has done in this area on behalf of Fine Gael. He has clearly identified enormous issues, many of which have been incorporated into this budget. The strategy for the development of child care facilities in every town and region while encouraging people to mind people at home are examples. I see, however, that where one's income is in excess of €10,000, all of it will be taxed. That is unfair. Tax should be levied only on the income in excess of €10,000. If the facility is catering for three children, that is approximately €65 per child per week, equivalent to considerably less than the minimum wage. This situation should be re-examined.

Ireland has many voluntary groups who do fantastic work in our communities. Such voluntary groups offer support to people and create awareness of specific issues. As legislators we need to be constantly aware of the concerns of voluntary groups. We have many such groups in Sligo-Leitrim. For example, the Sligo Social Services Council has the worthy aim of promoting the justice, equality and dignity of all human beings.

Almost one in five people in Ireland are at risk of poverty and those people are living in households where the income is less than 60% of the national income. The most vulnerable people are most at risk. A massive 48% of lone parents are at risk of poverty and 36% of people living alone are also at risk. Almost 7% of Irish people are consistently poor and 47% of people who are ill or disabled are at risk of poverty.

The Celtic tiger has been beneficial in many ways but many people missed out. The Minister is doing a good job. His Department has a huge budget. As Deputy Crawford said, MABS plays an important role by helping people to manage their finances. The Sligo branch of MABS has been very effective. Sligo social services do a very good job. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is very active in the region. I compliment all on the good work. Voluntary groups are needed in every constituency and voluntarism is to be commended.

Figures released by the CSO show that the highest level of poverty is to be found in the Border, midlands and western areas. This runs contrary to the development of a booming economy. One in four people in the north west are at risk from poverty. The welfare package in the budget incorporates significant facilities such as caring for the elderly and the very young, both critical groups.

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