Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I listened carefully to the statement made by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Hanafin, on the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008. I was struck by how enthusiastic she was as she explained how generously she was treating the less-well off in our community. I started to wonder whether the Bill I had read was the same document as the one to which she was referring.

On 14 October last, the 2009 budget hit us like a steam train. We knew the economy was in difficulty but we hoped the Government would try to make the best of a bad situation by protecting the most vulnerable in our society, at the very least. Sadly this did not happen. Instead, we were hit with one set of cutbacks after another. The Minister for Finance tried to convince us that his budget would protect and support those most in need. The sad reality is the only group the Government is committed to helping and supporting is the banking sector. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, referred to his budget as a call to patriotic action. In other words, we are being asked to bail out a Government that did not plan for an economic downturn but instead spent every cent trying to keep the electorate happy in the run-up to last year's general election.

In the aftermath of budget 2009, there is a feeling of anger and betrayal on our streets. Young and old people have felt the brunt of Government cutbacks in areas like health, education and social welfare. They will not easily forget what the Government has put them through. The medical card disaster caused huge upset and worry for elderly people across the country. I will never forget the protests outside Leinster House against the changes in medical card eligibility for people over the age of 70. That week, I met hundreds of people in my constituency of Dublin South Central who were visibly upset and furious with the Government. I even received a telephone call from a farmer who explained to me that he and his wife, who are both 80 years of age, have worked hard on the land all their lives to support their family. They were upset that having supported their country through tough times, a valued entitlement was being taken away from them. After much back-tracking by the Government as it tried to resolve the crisis, the situation improved somewhat, but the entire saga has left a bitter taste with people.

This Government has shown no loyalty to people with disabilities. It initially tried to remove the entitlement to disability benefit of people between the ages of 16 and 18 but later did a U-turn, following a substantial public outcry. Such behaviour is a poor reflection on the Government's commitment to disability issues. If it was not bad enough to target the elderly and people with disability, our young people are also under attack through an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio, the loss of 1,000 teachers, schools building projects coming to a standstill, the axing of funding for Traveller children, the scrapping of the free book scheme for 90% of schools and the abandoning of new subjects after schools had been given the go-ahead to provide them. For example, last year Drimnagh Castle secondary school was asked to support a new technology curriculum in 2010 for fifth and sixth year students. The school was informed it would receive a grant of €40,000 annually to provide the subject. I spoke to the principal recently who said he had not seen sight or sound of the money but he is still expected to roll out the technology curriculum, which the children will sit as a first time examination subject in 2010.

While the early school leaving rate is running at 29%, in the south west inner city in my constituency, we cannot abandon our young people who have been left hanging on to the edge for too long. How can the Government seriously stand by such cuts when they will clearly have a devastating effect on the education of our children? The Government parties should have more respect and loyalty to our young people who are the future of this country, but they are being left to dig the Government parties out of the mess into which they got everyone.

The Bill is nothing to be proud of, because it contains no concrete proposals to reduce reliance on social welfare and it offers no prospect for people to get back into the workforce. Small increases in payments are provided for but they do not go far enough at a time when unemployment is increasing on a daily basis and more and more families are forced to rely heavily on social welfare through no fault of their own. A total of 250,000 people are on the dole, with predictions that this figure will soon increase to more than 300,000. The Government's response is to increase jobseeker's benefit by a measly €6.50 per week and to make it more difficult to qualify for the payment. From January, it will be compulsory to have 13 paid contributions to qualify for this benefit. This will make it more difficult for young people, in particular, who had only started out in the workforce and recently lost their jobs. This will also increase pressure on families and parents, who have to support them as best they can, even into their 20s, if they lose their jobs.

The Minister has doubled the number of PRSI contributions paid since starting work from 52 to 104 for new claimants, which also makes it more difficult to access jobseeker's payments. The reduction in the time a person can be in receipt of jobseeker's benefit means many unemployed persons stand to lose approximately €2,600. In addition, waiting times for processing new claims are lengthy. People do not know where they stand and they are being forced onto the poverty line as they have no income. The Minister said she does not want people to develop a dependency on social welfare payments, but this it not the way forward. At a time like this, we must stand and support the social welfare recipients, particularly those who are unemployed, to give them the opportunity they need.

The Government prides itself on pumping money into FÁS to put people on training courses but they want jobs. Last week, I met a man who worked for 47 years as a highly skilled bricklayer. He was made redundant and he was recently contacted by FÁS who forwarded him to the local partnership to be retrained. He felt this was a demoralising and humiliating experience. After 47 years working in a highly skilled trade, he was asked to sit in front of a computer to be retrained but there are no jobs for him and many others like him. It is humiliating to ask a man who worked hard to rear his family to go back into training. If the Government is committed to retraining, why does it insist on making it so difficult to access the back to education allowance? I strongly disagree with the requirement for people to be on social welfare for 12 months before they can claim this allowance. They should be encouraged back into education and retraining and not forced to be dependent on social welfare. Reform is urgently needed and the Government needs to carefully rethink this process and make employment the goal.

This year's budget did nothing for our children and, instead, it reduced child benefit. A parent of an 18 year old stands to lose almost €1,000 in 2009 and almost €2,000 in 2010 due to the changes to child benefit. The reduction in the age limit for the early childhood supplement from six to five and a half years is another blow to families who have grown used to this payment. Child care costs have spiralled in recent years and parents are finding it more difficult to make ends meet. That is why it is important to support families and young children.

Child poverty is a reality in our society whether we want to believe it. Currently, one in nine children lives in consistent poverty in Ireland. Poverty for children means that they are excluded from activities that are considered normal in society. Child poverty has a long-term effect. It makes a difference to children's health, their educational achievement, how long they will live, how well they develop physically and mentally, the jobs they acquire as well as their overall life opportunities. If, as legislators, we do not fight to give our children every opportunity for their future, then we have failed them and this cannot be allowed to happen.

Fuel poverty is a threat to this country. An increase of €2 per week in the fuel allowance is not enough. We have experienced significant hikes in energy costs in recent months and low income households are struggling to pay fuel bills that are increasing every month. There was a time €2 would buy four bales of sticks but that is long past. On a recent visit to my local retail hardware store, a small bag of sticks cost €3.49. This is a sign of the times and the Bill does nothing to address the serious threat of fuel poverty. When I was growing up in Inchicore, I lived close to the Fleetwood factory and every week the gates were opened on Wednesdays and Fridays in order to give broken brush handles to people. People used to come from all over, including Ballyfermot, Inchicore, Crumlin and Drimnagh, with their carts to collect the broken handles. Surely, we are not returning to those days. It is a long time since I saw people queuing to collect sticks. A fuel strategy is needed, which will deal with increasing costs and ensure the less well off do not suffer unnecessarily.

The budget was a disaster and the Bill falls short of what is needed to address the serious and urgent problems facing the vulnerable in our society. The Government rushed into this year's budget without realistic or practical plans for the year ahead.

The Minister was very much at home in the Department of Education and Science, a Ministry close to her heart. However, as Minister for Social and Family Affairs, she has left her comfort zone. The legislation shows her lack of understanding of what it is like to be unemployed or a lone parent and, especially, of what it is like to be poor and to lack what is needed to get through the day.

See this speech in context