Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Tá athas orm deis a fháil labhairt ar an mBille seo. Is Bille é a bhfuil teideal fada air na laethanta seo, an Bille um Athchóiriú an Dlí Leas Shóisialaigh agus um Pinsin 2006.

It seems that the wordsmiths in the Department are having a field day. I see they have already reformed the terminology for a number of the payments and entitlements. While that at least indicates that thinking is going on, closer reading of the Bill indicates that there is a need to measure whether the fine words meet expectations and whether we can benchmark ourselves against other countries in any fair or reasonable way.

The Minister said that above all else we are about striving to ensure that the potential of no single individual is overlooked and that nobody's contribution is written off. Those are fine words and I also seek that objective but at my clinics I regularly meet people who are falling between stools. They may have been working, had an accident and find that because they have a house they fall between the stools in terms of means testing. They cannot get work because they have had an accident and they do not get a payment. The poverty trap is alive and well for some people notwithstanding the entitlements and the Minister's words.

From the Green Party's point of view social welfare should be designed to maximise participation in the workforce. Social welfare for the disabled, elderly and other groups should not preclude involvement in the labour force. Many groups are forced into the poverty trap by compulsory retirement on reaching pensionable age, loss of social welfare on returning to the workforce or by having to choose between caring for elderly parents and full-time or part-time work. I do not envy the Minister the complexity of his remit.

I pay tribute to the citizens' information centres throughout the country and particularly in my constituency, Dublin North, where much valuable advice and sensitive attention is given to the many people who avail of the services. I urge anybody who is not familiar with the citizens' information centres to keep them in mind. They constitute an important facility run by Comhairle and I hope the Comhairle Bill will be before us soon so that we can debate the reforms and updating of information technology needed to help impart the information.

I read the Minister's speech with interest. As the Minister was speaking about his Department one would expect it to be positive. It is important to be sober when we compare ourselves with other countries. Ireland spends 16.1% of GDP on social protection. In other countries that are highly competitive from a business point of view, such as Finland, 27.2% is spent on social protection. Fine words will not make up for that clear difference between Ireland and other countries. I am proud that Finland is not only competitive and has good social protection but has had the Green Party centrally involved in Government and re-elected to Government. It would still be in Government except that the Finnish Government decided to build a nuclear power plant. It is important that we examine how other countries manage.

A recent "Prime Time" programme illustrated the point when it quoted the EU average for the proportion of elderly people living below the poverty as 14.6%. Although that figure is unacceptable, it is much lower than the figure for Ireland, which Professor John Monaghan of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul suggested in the interview was 27.1%. Notwithstanding the improvements that have been made, we are starting from a relatively low base by comparison with the rest of the European Union. The Government needs to be reminded of that, lest it becomes complacent and believes that because it has done better than previous Governments all is now rosy. In comparison with other countries, we certainly have much work to do.

I appreciate the solutions to many problems involve not just the Minister for Social and Family Affairs but collective responsibility whereby other Departments pull their weight in tackling social inequity and in looking out for the most vulnerable in society. As Paul Murray of Age Action has highlighted — Deputy Lynch mentioned this as well — elderly people often face a much higher cost of living than those who can avail themselves of a car for travelling to out of town shopping centres where they can do all their shopping in one trip and benefit from economies of scale. Elderly people often need to rely on corner shops and convenience stores, which have higher prices. Given that those higher costs of living perpetuate the income differences that have been mentioned, we need to ensure planning and social infrastructure take account of the most vulnerable in society rather than play to the loudest audience, which comprises those who can manage and who do not necessarily think about the day when they will be elderly.

A similar issue arises in respect of education. The Bill makes extensive provision for child care, but I know many people in Dublin North find that child minding and child care facilities are becoming much more difficult to access because we have such a fast-growing population. Schools are becoming so packed that the enrolment age is being pushed higher, with children no longer being able to enroll at the age of four but having to wait until they are five or even six. As a result those children are left by their parents in whatever playschool or crèche facility is available and younger children do not get places at the age expected. That puts parents in the difficult position of trying to find money to pay for child care. The Department of Social and Family Affairs needs to lead the charge on that type of joined-up thinking, because the Department is affected by other factors coming into play that are in the control of other Departments.

Looking to further debate on pension reform, the Green Party welcomes the fact the Government has kick-started these discussions. I acknowledge that the State pension has improved as Deputy Ardagh said but, given the increases in the cost of living, we should not lose the run of ourselves. In comparison with equivalent schemes in other EU states, the Irish State pension remains very low at 30% of the average wage or approximately €10,000 maximum.

As Deputies we should also take account of the fact that, whereas we demand lots of bureaucracy and paperwork for the means testing, cross-referencing and checking of welfare claims to ensure people do not receive money under false pretences, we in the Dáil can claim expenses without the need for any receipts to vouch for them. We need to apply the same rules to ourselves as we apply to other people for social welfare. All our expenses should be vouched for by receipts so things are clear and transparent. Cynicism in the public mind is not helped when such facts come to light time and again when we debate social welfare. I will leave the matter at that because I want today's debate to proceed on the issue of pensions, but I will be interested in participating in that debate again.

Finally, on the issue of nursing homes, I was astonished to read in the Minister's speech, in which he paid a well deserved tribute to carers, that although only 5% of the elderly live in nursing homes, 50% of funding for the elderly is spent on institutional care. Carers get a rough deal from this Government and from society in general. We need to reform not just pensions but other matters so the elderly and those who care for them are given not just a verbal tribute but a fair monetary tribute as well.

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