Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I know the Minister's potential for looking at problems and sorting them out.

Based on the insurance system, I have a problem with a number of items. The first relates to stamps or benefit-based payments. If a man works for a county council, health board or any company and pays an A stamp but, Lord forbid, dies, his wife will qualify for a widow's contributory pension based on the stamps he paid into his insurance scheme, which covers her and his children in the event of his passing on. It is a good system, although we would like to see higher payments as widows and widowers are the great forgotten people of this country. My problem is with the fact that, if the man's widow happens to work in her own right and has accumulated stamps, on reaching 65 or 66, she is entitled to an old age pension based on her own stamps. She would also be entitled to a widow's pension based on her late husband's stamps but the Minister will not pay her out of both insurance schemes. He will only pay out of one but that is not fair because if people contribute to two pension funds, which is what they are, they should be entitled to draw from them. I ask the Minister to look at that aspect.

I welcome the budget announcement that carers in receipt of a social welfare payment will receive half the carer's allowance. A couple of years ago, I put on the record the case of a widow who looked after her mother-in-law but, as well as losing her husband, she lost out on those payments. Can the Minister clarify in his response to this part of the debate whether a recipient of widow's pension and a small pension from her husband's employer — for example, a county council or a health board — who has been sanctioned to become a carer, will receive the half payment? Will the small pension she receives be taken into account or will it fall within the income disregard? The Minister may not have thought about the issue. If that is the case, I ask him to do so in a sympathetic way.

As I said, widows are the great forgotten people and the Minister could do a few extra things for them. He could give them free travel because it would be a big bonus for them. I met a widow recently who asked me a question concerning the companion pass for which I had no answer, although the Minister and his officials may have one. She has a free travel pass but wanted a companion pass. If she had a partner or husband she would receive a companion pass for them but, because she has neither, she wonders why she cannot nominate somebody else. She is condemned to be alone because of circumstances outside her control and, if she wants to travel, she will have to do so alone because of circumstances outside her control. Widows should get special treatment.

The treatment of widows in the budget not by the Minister, but by his colleague, the Minister for Finance, was an absolute disgrace. He announced an additional tax credit for widows and widowers of €50 per annum, which is approximately 90c per week and is appalling. If he was not going to do something worthwhile for them, he should not have insulted them. It was a major slip-up, one of the few in the budget, and the Minister should consider how to put it right.

Free travel comes under the Minister's remit and must be of great benefit to those living in Dublin or places where there is a good transport system. In rural areas, however, it is of limited benefit as many small towns and villages do not have a bus service or, if they have, it consists of one bus per day. What does the Minister think of free travel being dispensed by way of vouchers which can be cashed through a taxi service? Given the effect curbs on drink driving are having on rural pubs, might it not be a good idea to allow a man, who loves to visit his pub for a few pints on a couple of occasions during the week but cannot drive home, to have 40, 50 or 60 vouchers in lieu of a free travel pass, each worth €5, to pay for a taxi home which otherwise would be very expensive? That would not be of great use in cities but it would be of great benefit to rural Ireland.

How long have I left?

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