John Ellis (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to make a short contribution to this Bill. I will be sharing time with Deputy Kelleher.

We see in this Bill the implementation of a €1.12 billion social welfare package, which was announced in the budget. That is an enormous amount of money. No matter what we do, however, there will not be sufficient to satisfy everybody's needs. There will always be need and some will always see themselves in a category of greater need than others. We have seen enormous changes as regards social welfare, first as regards the amounts and the percentage increases. I recall when increases of 2% or 3% were seen as phenomenal. In some cases little or no increases were seen as a major achievement in terms of being able to sustain the social welfare budget for certain sectors. We have, thankfully, moved on from that. Because of our economy, a greater contribution may now be made towards people who are less well off and in need. We have to welcome the fact that one of the highest rates of increase this year, €17, will go to those on the lowest level of payment. That is to be welcomed. I was surprised to hear that CORI was shocked at learning its full request had been fulfilled through the €17 increase given to people in those categories.

The old age pension has reached €193 for a contributory pensioner, with the fringe benefits of fuel or living alone allowances. In effect, we have reached the €200 pension that had been talked and dreamt about for many people down the years. As we reach that level, people will argue there is still need for further increases on an annual basis. The rate of increases across the various sectors in this year's Social Welfare Bill is noteworthy. The 11% increase in widow's or widower's contributory pensions rise is significant. The biggest increase is in the carer's allowance which is an allowance that should be targeted. People who care for their elderly family members at home make an important contribution to society but their contribution is even more important to the person being cared for. People are given a right to remain in their own family surroundings as long as possible. It may not be possible for them to remain there all their lives and they may require institutional care but the carer's allowance has encouraged people for the first time to look after their elderly family members.

I am aware of some cases of people who had been refused the respite care grant. I compliment the Minister's Department because it responded very well to the inquiries. The grant had been refused for minor reasons and in one case had been refused because only one half of the doctor's certificate had arrived with the application.

These grants and allowances encourage people to look after their elderly. Any society that does not look after its elderly is neither a just nor a fair society. The most vulnerable people in any society are the old and the young and they have been looked after reasonably well in this Bill and in the budget.

The increases will help parents to care for their children. We would all have liked to see a greater increase in the rate of child benefit but there is a limit. The targeting of the sum of €1,000 per year for children under six years of age will help parents to cope with young children. Such young children need parental time and care. The changes in maternity leave will be welcomed by every parent in the country. It will give parents the opportunity of staying at home to look after their children in the early months of life and is to be welcomed.

The fuel allowance has been increased significantly by €5 per week. This increase is at a cost of €42 million. There is also the benefit of the change in the rebate on household fuel. I hope this will be passed on to the consumers as soon as possible. It may not be possible to do this immediately in some cases, despite the fact it has been cleared by the House in the excise duties.

We must continue to target the people who need social welfare most, the young and the old. In between is a category of people who also find themselves in hardship. They may be those on disability benefit or those who lose a job and are unable to find another one and they must be supported. Whether it is by the use of the family income supplement as a mechanism to support them back into the labour force or by means of the other schemes available, it is important that these schemes are made as accessible as possible to the public.

Many people are not aware of their social welfare entitlements and do not believe they can learn anything from the citizens information centres. They often turn to the local politician or councillor. It is a sad fact that these people are ignorant because of a fear of social welfare. A stigma is attached to social welfare in some people's minds. They believe it downgrades them but I do not share this opinion. Social welfare is a provision whereby the rest of society supports those in need. Any one of us could find ourselves in need at any time in our lives and that is when one appreciates the people who offer support. In this case the State is supporting these people. There will be one more social welfare Bill in the lifetime of this Government. This should provide for some of the people who have been left behind in some form.

The elderly must continue to be the number one priority. They are the people who must be kept in their communities for as long as possible by means of social welfare payments, given the cost of residential care for older people. It is traumatic for an elderly person to be forced to go into residential care. We must concentrate on ensuring that as many people as possible can remain in their communities for as long as possible or for their entire lifetime if possible. There is a duty on families to support the elderly within the community for as long as possible. Elderly people were discarded in some cases and put into institutional care when there was no need for it. The supports now in place would have helped them continue in their communities.

The changes in this year's budget will benefit the young. I hope that the child supports which have been introduced will be increased in the next budget. I would like to see the child benefit increased from the proposed €150 to at least €160 or €165 for the first child in next year's social welfare Bill or budget.

I wish to bring a parochial matter to the Minister's attention. As Members will be aware, a section of the Department of Social and Family Affairs has moved to Carrick-on-Shannon. I would appreciate if the Minister would use his good offices to ensure that the office is up and running by the proposed date of early 2007. The Minister is committed to decentralisation, as is the Government. However, in some cases, the groups responsible for assisting decentralisation have been quite slow in taking action to ensure that the section of the Department and other Departments are decentralised.

See this speech in context