Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share time with Deputy Niall Collins.

I welcome the opportunity to comment on this generous package of measures, which represents nearly half of all additional Government spending in the budget this year and brings spending on social welfare to nearly €17 billion. That is a long way from where we were ten or 15 years ago. The Government has again underlined its commitment to improving the position of those less well off in our society. This Bill introduces a number of key improvements in the area of social welfare, including increases in child benefit, early child care supplement and the respite care grant.

We are entering into a period of below-trend growth in which matters are unstable and not as clear as they were a couple of years ago, not just in Ireland but globally. Our first priority as a Government has to be to ensure the vulnerable within our society are protected. Budget 2008 provided significant resources to allow us to address the needs of those most disadvantaged, and a number of these increases are provided for in this Bill. The approach taken by the Government has enabled us, as a society, to deliver significant improvements for people on low incomes in recent years. This continues to be the best way for us to deliver nature social welfare enhancements in a sustainable way. The key to this is sustainability. We must ensure that, into the future, whatever measures we introduce work for the people who must access our welfare system. In line with this overall approach, the improvements in social welfare benefits and, in particular, child care payments provided for in budget 2008 amount to an additional €957 million in 2008 and €980 million in a full year.

The Government has significantly increased financial support for children in recent years. It intends to continue to do so by increasing child benefit by €6 for the first and second child to €166 per month and by €8 for the third and subsequent children, bringing it to €203 per month. These increases will benefit more than 570,000 families throughout the country and assist approximately 1.1 million children. Section 3 of the Bill provides for these increases. This Bill also goes some way towards reforming income support for children in order to reduce work disincentives by making income support less relevant to the employment status of the parent. This has been a significant issue, particularly for lone parents. Welfare increases should not act as a barrier or disincentive to any parent who wishes to take up any chance they have of employment, training or education. As we know, this policy has formed an important part of our social partnership agreements. We must maintain the balance between tackling child poverty and encouraging and assisting families to access education, training and employment opportunities.

Section 4 also provides for the increase in the early child care supplement, a programme which has proved to be extremely successful. This is payable in respect of all children under six and brings the payment to €1,100 per year, an increase of €100. These increases mean that families with two children under six will receive a tax-free payment of €6,148 in 2008. This increase will benefit up to 430,000 children by the end of the year. Supporting lone parents is once again a key priority of this legislation. Increasing the upper earning limits for the one-parent family payment will help those people to access work and training that fits in with their responsibility as parents and that is in the interest of the children as well as the parents.

It also offers the best way out of the very difficult position in which people sometimes find themselves. I see this on daily basis at advice centres, particularly in inner city areas, where young parents, predominantly though not exclusively women, have difficulty in accessing any kind of training or employment opportunities they come across solely because they will lose whatever benefits they have gained as part of the system for lone parents. That is a significant worry for young people who find themselves in that position. The changes made in this legislation will help to tackle this aspect. In order to do that, we need co-operation between a number of agencies and Departments for these measures to work and I look forward to the results of the pilot projects under way in Coolock in Dublin and Kilkenny, which were mentioned by the Minister.

Sections 6 and 7 relate to transfers. For many years, particularly in respect of the Department of Social and Family Affairs but also in other Departments, the issue always arose of whether people were getting their entitlements and if they would be entitled to an increase if they changed to a different payment. Under section 6, a person transferring back to illness benefit from invalidity pension will be entitled to a full personal rate of illness benefit, assuming he or she has the required number of contributions in the relevant tax year. Section 7 provides that a person moving from disability allowance to a State pension at age 66 will not receive a lower rate of payment. Again, the emphasis is put on providing the maximum amount of payment to which a person is entitled.

There has been much discussion of carers in this debate. The Government has recognised and continues to recognise the huge contribution to society made by carers and this is evident in the increase in carer's allowance and carer's benefit by €14 per week. The respite care grant was increased last year from €1,200 to €1,500. Section 9 of this Bill increases it by a further €200 to €1,700, as announced in the budget. This measure will benefit approximately 48,200 carers this summer and underpins our commitments under the partnership agreement, Towards 2016, and the programme for Government. A simple thing like a one or two-week holiday a few times a year makes a significant difference to those people who are caring for parents or children. In some cases, it can make the difference when it comes to making the choice to put their relation into some kind of supported medical facility or caring for them at home. The respite care grant has proven its worth over the years. The changes made last year to the carer's allowance whereby recipients can receive more than one payment have benefited more than 7,000 carers. Again, this is a very simple measure but it ensures that people can choose whether to continue caring for their relations.

There has been much discussion of pensions over the past few years. This legislation deals with a number of issues in respect of pensions in general. Part 3 and sections 26 to 31 provide for amendments to the Pensions Act 1990 and some consequential amendments to the family law Acts 1995 and 1996. There has been considerable discussion about pensions and their future administration. It is an issue for everybody, not just for young people. If a young person is only starting out in their career, the last thing on their mind is whether they will have a pension when they retire. As time goes by, they realise the importance of having a pension. There are changes in this Bill in respect of how pension schemes are administered and who administers them. The proper regulation of trustees and third party administrators is crucial in ensuring people's rights to their pensions when they reach that particular stage of their lives.

Overall, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008 provides for a number of substantial increases in social welfare. These increases are to be very much welcomed and I commend this Bill to the House.

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