Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Bill 2006. This important debate not only allows us to put down markers on the direction in which our society is going but to challenge and question the Government and to put forward sensible ideas on social welfare, child care, the elderly, carers and the disabled. I welcome the constructive proposals in the Bill, in particular the extra financial assistance it will give to our citizens. However, there is no need for Deputies on the Government side to lose the run of themselves or to clap themselves on the back for the way in which we treat the weakest sections of society.

Before I go into the details of the Bill, it is appropriate that I mention the 25th anniversary of the Stardust fire tragedy in Artane in which 48 people died and more than 240 were injured. The pub has recently reopened on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. I condemn that complete lack of sensitivity and I strongly support the families. In this debate on the welfare of our citizens, I urge the Cabinet to support the families in their hour of need. I also use this opportunity to thank and commend the people from the northside who have pushed the issue for many years, including Neil Fetherstonhaugh and Tony McCullagh who have written an excellent book on the matter. We need to support the families by providing a proper investigation and inquiry. In raising the issue again, I urge the Minister to bring it to the Cabinet table.

On the broader welfare and disability issues, I strongly support the idea that resources should be targeted at the most needy. Despite the wealth in our society, we currently have approximately 3,000 people with intellectual disabilities on waiting lists. That is not a huge figure so we should consider how we can target such people on waiting lists for residential, respite and day care. The problem could be tackled fundamentally. I accept an attempt was made in last year's budget to make a large dent in the figure, but we need to target specifically the most needy. People with intellectual disabilities must be top of that list.

We have heard from many good news merchants about how the Bill deals with the Ireland of today, but I remind such people that there is another Ireland out there. Some sections of our population are living in extreme situations with major problems in their lives. Some 19.4% of the population, 780,000 people, experience relative income poverty. The position of older people has deteriorated significantly in recent years and their poverty rate has increased by twice the average figure. The rate of in-work poverty has doubled and stands at 9%, with 157,000 people affected. The in-work poor are the second largest labour market category, after those with home duties, and account for more people than those in poverty who are unemployed or ill. Furthermore, 6.8% of the population, 270,000 people, live in consistent poverty. Groups at risk include children and adults in lone-parent households. We must also address the fact that cash transfers in this country reduce income poverty only by 40%, which is two thirds of the mean poverty reduction effect achieved through social transfers in the EU as a whole.

The poorest fifth of the population received less than a quarter of income of the richest 20%, with cash transfers representing more than 80% of gross household income for this group. I raise these issues because there are people living in cities throughout Ireland in such poor situations. They turn up only now and again on our television screens on programmes such as "Prime Time", as regards crime. There are a great many poor people who need help and they are not all involved in crime. I should like the middle-classes to wake up to the fact that 90% of those who live in poverty do not get involved in crime. Those that do, very often come from a dysfunctional family, or have an alcohol-related or abuse-related problem. I commend those people and stress that as legislators we have a duty to support them and act as a resource for them.

One can see clearly from the broader debate that not all of Irish society has gained equally from continued economic buoyancy. This is mostly due to structural inequalities which act as a barrier to sharing the benefits of a booming economy. Low educational attainment and outdated skills act as key barriers to employment, which is the major route out of poverty. I tell people who talk about poverty that the answer is education and more education. If children can be brought into the net before they even enter primary schools, they have an advantage. Already at four years of age when they enter the primary schools they are three or four years behind in literacy levels. Most schools in disadvantaged areas will spend the next eight or nine years trying to get children to catch up with average standards in middle-class areas. This is something that must be dealt with directly, head-on. I know that the Department of Education and Science currently has a number of projects under way to assist and support these children and to target the resources, and most Members of the House would agree with this. I urge the Minister for Education and the Science and the Cabinet to promote such projects as regards spending more money on the education of the disadvantaged.

In the wider debate on taxation, Ireland has become a so-called low tax economy in the sense that direct taxation levels are now historically low. However, indirect taxation accounts for about 50% of all Exchequer revenue and is now a more dominant form of taxation. As indirect taxes are generally regressive, these hit the poor the hardest. Tax expenditures and reliefs for higher earners act as a drain, with the revenue foregone accounting for approximately one fifth of aggregate Exchequer returns. Efforts to broaden the tax base need to be pursued so that the tax system is seen to be fair. That is something that we must have the courage and the bottle to deal with.

As regards social expenditure, relative to its EU counterparts, Ireland has one of the lowest levels as a proportion of national income. Listening to the debate earlier today one would think we were up in the premier division. Recent research by Combat Poverty Ireland identified public services as the key area that requires increased spending along with mechanisms for linking benefits to incomes from paid employment — and increasing the earnings of low-income working families. The independent group of Deputies in the House will always stand for low-income working families as a major priority in its broader political vision and agenda.

Greater efforts are required to integrate groups excluded from the labour force. Generous investment in both incomes and services for children, such as education and health, are the keys to meeting the target as set down in the national anti-poverty strategy, Eliminating Child Poverty. Then we can have the debate about sustainable economic growth.

Sustainable economic growth is crucial to our capacity to tackle poverty. It provides jobs and resources which are crucial if poverty is to be tackled in the years ahead. To maintain economic and employment growth, the Government needs to ensure Ireland's competitiveness in a global economy and to continue public and private investment in infrastructure and productive activity. The national action plan can contribute to this objective by targeting investment in human capital and local development which can deliver economic outcomes in the longer term. It is no longer a question of creating the wealth. We have that. The debate now is about how to distribute the wealth and resources.

At present there is a centre-right view of the economy in operation which is damaging to the State and the poorer sections of society including people in need. I urge the Government to redistribute resources and opportunities in a fair and equitable manner. Despite economic growth not all social groups or areas of the country have gained equally. I urge a greater redistribution of resources and opportunities towards low-income groups. Greater effort is needed to integrate groups excluded from the labour force. Measures which target groups and areas excluded from economic growth are also important. Such measures will yield returns for the economy in terms of fostering economic growth among the less buoyant sectors. We have seen examples of good practice, I accept. Dublin City Council has come up with excellent projects which included investment in houses and community centres in disadvantaged areas, and this should be developed.

I welcome the opportunity to debate this legislation. However, the debate is no longer about wealth, but rather about how it is distributed to the most needy.

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