Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, the backdrop to which is a period of phenomenal achievement, such as major increases in employment, strong and healthy economic growth and a continuation of the low taxation, job creation and wealth creation policies pursued by the Government, which has transferred wealth to those who need it most.

Many believe that this occurs by accident. A number of commentators take our strong economic growth, low unemployment levels, strong job creation and low taxation for granted. However, this has come about due to difficult decisions made in the 1980s and early 1990s by Fianna Fáil-led Governments, which is an important point to make in the context of discussing the spending of money.

The budget pursues the policy of encouraging and fostering enterprise, keeping taxation low, providing strong economic stability and ensuring a prosperous country. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has tabled reforming proposals and has not been afraid to review some social welfare pensions and payments or to challenge us. A number of issues, such as care of the elderly and pension provisions for the public service and people without State or contributory pensions, are coming down the tracks. If the same types of policies are pursued in the coming years, the public will accept that they should be continued to allow us to address the fundamental challenges. The budget proposed the same philosophy followed heretofore.

Regarding the Bill, we are discussing a spend of €15.3 billion, a significant increase in social welfare payments during the Government's lifetime. The backdrop to this spending is 4% unemployment and strong economic growth. Many resources are going to those most in need and we will continue to target those areas.

The matter of carers stands out and I welcome the increase of €20 in carer's allowance, which is a strong indication of what we must do in respect of care of the elderly and home care. Given the recent announcements of home care packages by the Ministers for Health and Children and Finance, we will begin to realise that the best form of provision of care is in the home. While we often debate how to provide care, the facts speak for themselves and the Bill addresses the issue in a positive way. In the coming years, there will be more targeted approaches to the provision of care in the home.

The respite grant scheme is positive. In the context of the previous budget, I highlighted the respite grant in a leaflet drop, but I was amazed by how many people were unaware of it. They applied for the top-up of €2,400. Like some public representatives, will the Minister and the Department publicise the scheme as much as possible? The grant will be increased to €1,500, which is a generous acknowledgement of the worthiness of the sacrifices made when caring for people.

Due to the increase in fuel costs, many public representatives have lobbied the Government regarding the fuel and energy allowance. The doubling of the allowance to €18 is a welcome measure and an acknowledgement that we are in a position to target resources in those areas. I remember listening to people discussing increases of £1.40 in the old age pension, but we can now discuss increasing basic pensions by €20. That the Bill has many positive aspects has been acknowledged across the board.

The Minister has put the challenge of alleviating child poverty to us. Society has a fundamental duty to target significant resources on this matter, such as the family income supplement and child benefit payments. Society will do itself a disservice if we do not tackle child poverty because it will lead to cyclical problems and generational poverty, that is, people will be unable to escape the poverty trap.

The Minister has many ideas to encourage parents to take back to education schemes and to return to work. Some people left school at an early age and have poor education standards, self-esteem and literacy levels. They are unable to find the confidence to return to the education system and the workplace. Training schemes and finding employment for such people would be a positive measure. In a way, the community employment schemes served that purpose, but the best way to address child poverty is to return parents to the workplace. It requires a great deal of thought and the Minister will table more proposals in that regard.

I welcome the increase of €10 in the child benefit payment and the generous child care package. We must acknowledge that child care payments are intended for the provision of child care or related costs. While some say the Government should do more, this provision and the tax code acknowledge the cost of providing child care. For example, €15,000 can be earned tax free by a person providing child care. Given the significant increases in grants for child care spaces and facilities, we will reach an equilibrium. Child care costs should level off and people will see child care as affordable. The Government has fully acknowledged the difficulties for parents trying to find affordable child care and local authorities now recognise the need for crèches to be included in planning applications for large housing developments.

There is a problem in urban areas, where a person might want to provide a child care facility in his or her home in an estate, converting the front room or the garage. The local authorities seem to be incapable of looking at this in a positive light, where child care could be provided for residents of an estate by another resident. Local authorities should be more imaginative in granting planning permission for the change of use for child care provision in someone's home. Regulations govern crèches but this offers an opportunity for parents who want to stay at home with their own children to make use of the tax break of €15,000 on income earned from child care. Local authorities should encourage this positive development instead of forcing parents to bring their children to industrial complexes to access child care.

There has been an increase of four weeks in the paid leave available for maternity leave, bringing it up to 26 weeks, and unpaid leave has been increased from four weeks to 16 weeks, a total of 42 weeks. It is a welcome move and I urge that we continue to look at this. It is imperative that the challenges in raising children are met and families are allowed time and space for themselves.

I compliment the Minister. This social welfare package has been well received by the people and will go a long way to addressing the challenges that exist and there is more good news to come.

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