Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am delighted to have a few minutes to speak on this Bill. I welcome the increases in benefit that have been announced. However, when one looks at the situation and pulls back the veil of hype, one finds that the increases are not enough even to begin the reversal of the profoundly unequal society the Government has created over the past nine years. The gap between rich and poor has widened to more than €16,000 per annum over that period. This budget does nothing to begin that reversal. It is simply a budget that marks time.

Some aspects of the Bill and the budget are particularly disappointing. In the past three or four months, there have been a number of high level reports, such as a UN report, an ESRI report and a Barnardo's report, all of which indicate that we have created a profoundly unequal society in recent years. The Barnardo's report confirms that there are 148,000 children living in consistent poverty, while there are around 242,000 children living between consistent and relative poverty. That is sad in a country that is so rich and has so much money available. That the child dependant allowance has been frozen for 12 years is very difficult to understand. I ask the Minister to increase that allowance. All of the various agencies dealing with children had indicated that the child dependant allowance should be raised to €30 per week. The formative years of young children are very important for their future development. The area of social inclusion in the community must be addressed properly. The applicant rates for widows and widowers under 66, as well as for people on invalidity pension under 65, are very small.

The Minister should also look at the fuel allowance. I accept that there has been a €5 increase, but we have seen huge hikes in the price of fuel, be it coal, gas or electricity. A €14 allowance per week will not even buy a bag of coal and a bale of briquettes. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul rightly suggested that the allowance should have been increased to at least €18 per week. That is particularly the case for elderly people who need heat for the winter period. The fuel allowance should have been increased significantly and it could have been done at very little cost to the Exchequer.

There is significant concern and even anger across the country about the capping of the community employment schemes. I attended a meeting last week in the village of Dundrum in south Tipperary. There were 550 participant sponsors and supervisors at that meeting. The capping of those schemes is putting them in danger. A significant number of participants are being let go before 13 January. A third of the supervisors will lose their jobs in that period. The value of these schemes to local communities is huge and covers everything from tidy towns committees to meals on wheels, sports clubs, health related matters and the whole gamut of community work. This is very good value for very little cost. The cost of keeping a participant on one of these schemes is only an additional €20 per week. Such schemes should be continued. We should ensure that the capping is removed and I ask the Minister to talk to his colleague about this. These schemes are necessary, valuable and give very good value for money. There are various other areas I could refer to, for example the carer's allowance and the bereavement grant. However, I am thankful for the opportunity to have said these few words.

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