Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

In speaking on budget 2009 I ask Government Members, individually or collectively, what are their lasting impressions of the election of 2007 or any house calls and canvassing they have carried out since the election. I wonder what impressions they had of the rented accommodation sector. For me, the large and obvious gap between the rich and very poor in society is a most sobering thought.

According to information given to the House last week by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, rent and mortgage subsidies are paid to approximately 72,000 people. While the majority of this group receive rent subsidy, I understand an increasing number of people are applying for mortgage interest supplement, largely due to the substantial increase in unemployment in recent months.

While canvassing and making house calls, it is easy to pinpoint dwellings in the rented accommodation sector. They often have broken gates or damaged gate piers and in many cases wall capping has fallen down or been removed, gardens are not tended and doors and windows are unpainted and in poor condition. Despite the best efforts of the tenant, interiors are usually damp and have poor ventilation and plumbing and other problems in need of repair. In most instances, oil or gas fired central heating is the only means of heat and in practically all cases the heating system is unusable due to the cost of fuel. This week another application was made to increase gas prices. Tenants will point out that landlords are not easily accessible because they tend to use agents who seldom want to hear complaints by occupiers.

Thus, the lot of the private rented tenant is not a happy one. Given the declining number of local authority houses and large waiting lists for such houses, the position will remain unchanged for some time. From my knowledge of local authority housing, most residents are old age pensioners, single parents and young couples seeking to get on to the first rung of the home ownership ladder. All of them receive social welfare payments.

Under the heading "Considerations to bear in mind" in Annex B of the Minister for Finance's budget booklet, it is stated: "The Social Welfare measures in Budget 2009 will accrue mostly to those at the lower end of the income distribution who, without such measures, would experience a significant deterioration of their income in relative terms." This assessment does not correspond with the fact that while the Minister gave the groups to which I referred €7, he clawed back €5 of this sum by increasing the rent supplement contribution. How can the Government stand over this measure which will have tragic consequences for those seeking to cope with increases in the cost of living?

It is difficult to understand the Green Party's approach given its previous vocal support for tenants in the private rental sector. Yesterday, I listened to Deputy Cuffe offer his party's full support to senior citizens. Where does the Green Party stand on the rent subsidy? Will it support the provision increasing the subsidy by only €2 from 1 January 2009? Will the party bring that to the attention of the Minister for Finance? How in God's name could it be so cold, callous and uncaring of a sector that obviously cannot stand up for itself, due to fear of recrimination by the landlord? It is unforgivable of the Green Party because there are guidelines appropriate to this case. I was glad to receive them recently from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, when I had an issue with a local authority that had increased rent payments for those in receipt of social welfare payments over and above that specified in the Department's guidelines. The guidelines are included in circular letter HRT3/2002 "Rents of Local Authority Dwellings", section 4 and it is fair to assume that a common line can be taken to the effect that if a Department issues such a circular, a sister Department, especially the Department of Social and Family Affairs will adhere to such a directive, given that it is specific to persons in receipt of social welfare payments. The guidelines state:

It is important that authorities should ensure that rent increases do not absorb an excessive amount to income of tenants on low incomes dependent on Social Welfare payments and in particular, old age pensions. As a general guideline it is considered that no more than a 15% increase in such pension income should be absorbed by an increase in rent.

In this budget the Minister for Social and Family Affairs has thrown out the window any referral to such guidelines. In fact she has increased the rent by 71%, leaving the recipient with a weekly increase of just €2. She gave €7 with one hand and took back €5 with the other. How does this fit in with the guidelines I have just quoted from and how does it fit with the Minister for Finance's statement on the very first page, second paragraph, that the budget aimed to protect those who were most vulnerable? Surely there are some within Fianna Fáil, and especially in the Green Party as well as the two Independents who support the Government, who see this proposal for those in rented accommodation is totally unacceptable, and will not support it in the social welfare Bill soon to come before the House. The Labour Party will fight this issue tooth and nail, at every available level, both in and outside the House. I ask the Green Party and the two Independent Deputies to take the matter on board and make it an issue before the social welfare Bill comes before the House.

In looking at other aspects of the budget, I am disappointed with the decision to put the decentralisation programme for Kildare on hold. The decision to stop, halt, review or whatever means that 560 employment opportunities through the placement of the Revenue Commissioners offices in Athy and Kildare in my constituency are stopped. My disappointment is increased by the fact the IDA has publicly stated in recent local newspaper reports that it is having major difficulties in attracting industry to the constituency. Unfortunately, it is not too difficult to see why, when the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment informs me that only two itineraries have been arranged by the IDA to my constituency in five years. If the Government wants to commence an upturn in employment, it will have to put in place incentives for SMEs, to increase employment and ensure that new SMEs are given seed capital to create employment in areas such as Kildare, where there has been an enormous increase in the unemployment figures. The increase in the live register is up 70% in Newbridge, 56% in Athy and 65% in Maynooth.

The budget does nothing to create optimism in this area, with a reduction in capital expenditure for indigenous industry to Enterprise Ireland of 29%. The State agencies, in agreement with the local authorities, should and must provide incubation units on an organised basis, with seed capital being provided through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to kickstart local initiatives, to ensure employment growth in such areas. In a constituency where there have been high levels of unemployment, obviously there will be delays in processing claims, as in the local central office in Newbridge. Yesterday, I listened to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs agreeing with this. I ask the Minister to address this matter and ensure extra people are enlisted to assist the overworked staff who are seeking to meet demands under such duress.

I note Deputy Nolan from Carlow is in the House. In the area of Carlow and south Kildare there has been a huge employment haemorrhage over the past couple of years. We have seen Läpple and Irish Sugar close and Shuttleworth in Athy move on. A whole raft of companies has gone among them some replacement industries that have moved on to other locations. With this in mind I say to the IDA and Enterprise Ireland that they have failed badly as regards providing alternatives or new employment in that particular area.

Cuts in the Department of Education and Science budget will affect a constituency where there are children from many nations. I visited a school recently where there were 27 different nationalities, putting enormous pressure on the education system. The Minister must revise this position to ensure class sizes are reduced, as promised before the general election of 2007, to ensure every child, whatever his or her nationality, gets an equal opportunity to receive a proper education.

The medical card debacle is something no caring Government should have allowed itself to become involved in. The Government did not do the ground work to establish such changes were needed beforehand. The four-word adage, "Think before you ink" was never more relevant than in this instance. Recent press statements from Mr. Maurice Ahern, brother of the former Taoiseach, are relevant in this regard. It is obvious that over a long period the Department of Finance wanted the Government to come to grips with the universality of the health system. In fairness to the previous Taoiseach, he repelled such approaches every time.

I have never had so many calls from concerned senior citizens and family members seeking information, advice and general assurances with regard to the totally unacceptable withdrawal of medical cards. Even people not directly affected, but who wanted to lend support to a neighbour or a friend, contacted me. The universality of the health service, education and the social welfare system is a corner stone of Labour Party policy, and we will not relent in fighting for their protection. Among the letters I got over the past few days was one from a person in north Kildare. He said not enough had been said about the mental impact on those over 70 who were now being forced to worry about, and fill in even more forms. This, in itself, would prevent many older folk, who qualified from applying for what had been an automatic entitlement, he said:

Many will be confused and fearful about the change. They are being hassled unnecessarily and that, in itself, is a crime by the State they have served so well, for so long. They have each earned many times over the right to be well looked after, with a minimum of worry in their twilight years. The medical card has acted as a great comfort of those older citizens. The supreme irony is that the net gain to the State, after the administration cost is deducted, will be marginal, at best.

It was a further stealth tax being added to the many others that old age pensioners on fixed incomes have to face, he added, before going on to quote the great 19th century leader Daniel O'Connell, who said, "Nothing is politically right that is morally wrong, and this is morally wrong". That sums it all up as regards the medical card system.

As regards the education aspect, I have a letter from a national school in relation to its third and fourth classes. It is easy to read and very specific in saying:

We are not happy at the decisions made by the Minster for Finance in last week's budget. We are not happy, because it will be harder to learn, with more children in the classrooms. This will affect lots of children's education. This will affect our play. If there are too many children, it will become a danger during playtime in the yard. It will be difficult for teachers to look after every child. It will be difficult for other teachers if other classes must be split up to join them because it was decided we cannot have substitute teachers.

The money for children who might need special resources to help them learn has also been taken away. This is not fair, These resources are to help us to learn. It has been decided to take away some of the money for schools to buy equipment also. This is really not fair. It is really unfair that you have decided to take away teachers that help non-national children who need help to learn English for school. You have taken away jobs from teachers that have done a lot of work to learn to teach. Why do you need to take away some of the money that all the schools need. We are very concerned about this. We would like a reply about this situation.

Those two letters are very relevant in the current climate. The senior citizen is worried beyond belief. As that man rightly said, nothing is politically right that is morally wrong. The same is said by a class of three and four year olds.

The Labour Party will continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure those least well-off in society, such as those on rent subsidy, senior citizens and those in schools, are not left behind and forgotten by the Government.

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