Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I am much happier in Tallaght than in the city centre.

I have encountered many cases in which the facility to increase the lone parent family income is urgently needed. It is interesting that other colleagues referred to the issue of lone parents. I know there are political points to be made about what the Minister, and the previous Minister, said in debates, but there is no question that we need to consider this issue in particular. Other colleagues mentioned the challenges faced by lone parents, including, as mentioned by Deputy Deirdre Clune, the issue of rent subsidies. We must take account of the fact that €392 million was paid out last year in rent allowances. It must be pointed out that this is not sustainable for ever. While local authorities are considering the situation, young people and lone parents are being caught in the poverty trap. The only people who benefit are landlords. I do not want to pick on landlords, but in every one of our constituencies we hear from people living in sub-standard accommodation for which a considerable amount of money is being paid through the social welfare scheme, although in the end the families have nothing to show for it. This has been going on for quite some time. I suspect the Minister knows there is agreement across the political spectrum that something needs to be done about this and I hope he will be brave enough to grasp that nettle.

Many lone parents who come to me and who are trying to obtain local authority housing make the point that with improvements in the areas of child care and employment, they are caught in a poverty trap whereby they want to return to work and look after themselves and their families better but they are caught in a bind. I have always made the point that the social welfare code should facilitate people as much as possible in this regard because the ultimate goal should be to improve people's circumstances and help them get back into work or training. I hope this debate will continue.

In view of the high levels of consistent poverty among lone-parent families, the Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, recommended that the upper income limit for receipt of the new social assistance payment should be €400 per week. Budget 2007 realised this increase, and I welcome the increase to €420 in the upper earnings limit for qualification for the one-parent family payment that is included in the Bill. I also welcome the Minister's commitment that any new scheme to support low-income parents can only be introduced when the necessary co-ordinated supports and services are put in place on the ground by other Departments and agencies.

I agree that the testing of the non-income recommendations contained in the discussion paper is vital for any successful roll-out of that plan. These recommendations are being tested in Coolock and Kilkenny. Needless to say, I would have liked Tallaght to have been selected but, as they say, I cannot win them all.

Like other colleagues, I express my admiration for people throughout the country who support carers. When my late father was quite ill, I saw the challenges this kind of situation can bring. From my work in my constituency, I know that it is a particular challenge. I know that the home help group based in Tallaght Welfare Society provides much support and carries out a considerable amount of work in that regard. The Carers Association, which is based in nearby Clondalkin, also carries out a considerable amount of work. I am glad that we get a considerable amount of interaction with and reaction from that group. It is important that we continue to do that. None of us should be afraid to support their work in that regard and to continue to press the Department and make the point to the Minister that improvements must continue.

We all know that carers play a critical and much valued role in ensuring that our older people and people with disabilities can remain in their homes for as long as possible. We should not forget that supporting and recognising carers in our society is and has been a priority of the Government since 1997. It is important that we continue to stress that point. It is important for us to continue to take from our constituencies various examples of how people are challenged in that regard and continue to tell the Government that it is a good use of public money to look after carers. I hope this would continue to be the case.

I also welcome the commitment to carers that has been reinforced in the national partnership agreement, Towards 2016, and the programme for Government, both of which include significant commitments in the area of caring. These include commitments to increase the level of the respite care grant, to keep the scope for further development of payments to carers under review and to ensure that those on average industrial earnings continue to qualify for carer's allowance.

I welcome the fact that this Bill provides for an increase in the respite care grant of €200, bringing the value of the grant to €1,700 for each care recipient. The fact that this measure will benefit over 48,000 carers in 2008 demonstrates the scale of the support that ordinary family members make in this area. We should continue to support them in that meaningful way without patronising them.

As we know, budget 2007 provided for a fundamental reform of the social welfare system for carers, including the introduction of the half carer's allowance. Under the new arrangements, which came into effect in September last year, people in receipt of certain social welfare payments other than carer's allowance or benefit who provide someone with full-time care and attention can now retain their main payment and receive another payment, depending on their means, the maximum of which is equivalent to a half-rate carer's allowance. The new arrangements apply to almost all weekly social welfare payments and to people in receipt of the qualified adult allowance. The beneficiaries of these arrangements are people currently in receipt of carer's allowance who may have underlying eligibility for another social welfare payment, such as the contributory State pension, and people currently in receipt of other social welfare payments who are also providing full-time care and attention who may now qualify for an additional payment. I welcome the Minister's confirmation that, to date, almost 7,000 national carers have benefited from these new arrangements.

In respect of the development of the national carers strategy, I welcome the Minister's comments and look forward to its report being made available this summer. I have already mentioned the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs and I hope that, at that level, we can all continue to look in a very positive way at where we have been, where we are and where we want to go. We have gone through a period where, clearly, the economy was in sound shape and I believe the country and all our communities benefited in that regard. I do not agree with the view that the bottom has fallen out of the world but there are challenges ahead. I have no problem with every Department fighting its own corner and every community fighting for its rights. However, we should all remember that social inclusion is very important. As the Taoiseach has often said, when all boats are rising, let us remember the small boats. If all boats are being challenged, let us remember the small boats. I hope the Minister continues to do that. I will not revisit what I said earlier but I congratulate the Minister on his efforts in that regard.

Deputy Deenihan has cautioned me on more than one occasion not to praise Ministers too much but I am not afraid to praise Ministers who do their job. As a Fianna Fáil backbencher, I will continue to press the Government and the Minister to ensure that the vulnerable people in our communities will continue to be facilitated and looked after.

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