Beverley Flynn (Mayo, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I acknowledge the €900 million increase in social welfare payments which brings this to a very generous social welfare package. In 2008 a total of €17 billion will be spent on social welfare. Throughout the world Ireland is recognised as a country that has a very generous social welfare package for citizens who are entitled to it.

From recent debates on family income supplement, I am aware that only 40% of those who are entitled to FIS claim the payment. Deputy Curran made a good point in terms of a possible link-up with the Revenue to try to encourage people, who would not normally be in the social welfare bracket, to apply for it. Perhaps the reason the take up on FIS is so poor is due to a lack of information. I accept an advertising campaign was conducted by the Department but something else requires to be done when 60% of those who are entitled to it do not claim the payment. This is something we should work on over the next year.

I welcome the increase of €14 on the contributory pension, bringing it to €223.30, and the €12 increase per week in the non-contributory pension. I also welcome the fact the Government is working its way towards fulfilling its commitment that pensions will reach €300.

I am slightly disappointed that the Government did not fulfil its commitment to bring up the qualified adult payment to the same rate as the principal recipient's rate. I acknowledge the commitment given by the Minister on budget day on the qualified adult payment, which has been significantly increased this year, that he will work towards bringing parity between those two payments by next year. I feel very strongly about this issue. It is not justifiable that the qualified adult payment would be anything less than that of the principal recipient. I raised this matter with the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, last year and he did something about it. I refer to the qualified adult payment, which in 95% of cases is to the woman. In the majority of cases the principal social welfare recipient is the man and he claims for his spouse as a qualified adult.

I made the point last year to the then Minister, Deputy Brennan, that this payment should be made directly to the woman. He agreed with me and in his speech last year he mentioned that he would introduce legislation in March to enable the qualified adult payment to be made directly to, in most cases, the woman. This has not worked out in the manner I had intended. I wanted it to be acknowledged that every woman was entitled to an income in her own right. In the debate on the Social Welfare Bill 2006 the Minister stated his intention to transform the payment into what would be, in effect, a woman's pension in her own right.

The change does not apply to existing recipients of a qualified adult payment and women still do not receive the qualified adult payment directly. In the case of new applicants, if a husband ticks a box on the form stating he agrees the qualified adult portion can be paid directly to the woman, she can get the payment in her own right. That should never be the case. The point I was trying to make, which I thought was understood last year by the Minister, is that it would be accepted that the qualified adult payment would be a woman's entitlement, or indeed a man's in the small percentage of cases that relate to men, and that women would receive that payment in their own right without having to seek permission or the signature of the principal social welfare recipient.

I also seek the extension of this approach right across social welfare payments where a qualified adult payment is made. I would appreciate if the Minister would look again at this matter. Legislation was introduced last year but it has not worked out exactly as I intended. I believe it was the Minister's intention that a woman would, in effect, receive a pension in her own right. We have fallen well short of that.

I wish to refer to many other aspects of the Bill but I would be pleased if the Minister could address this one alone. I received numerous telephone calls from women on this aspect of social welfare payments. It would mean a great deal to so many women. I urge the Minister to re-examine this matter.

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