Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak briefly on this Bill. It is probably one of the most important social welfare Bills for a number of years. The message in the Bill is that measures are being taken to ensure that those who need most support will get it. As other speakers have said, there are people who, due to events outside their control, find themselves in a position of having no option but to approach the State for aid.

Framing a budget is about planning for the forthcoming year with the resources one has. There is a general consensus that the forthcoming year will be a particularly difficult year. I congratulate the Minister on ensuring that adjustments are made to enable the Department to look after the expected increased numbers that will come to the Department for assistance. Given that an extra €1.25 billion will possibly be needed for unemployment payments alone, the adjustments in this Bill are particularly welcome. I note several details. There has been an adjustment in jobseeker's benefit which has been reduced to 12 months and a change in the required contributions for qualification — a person is eligible if fewer than 260 have been paid. This will ensure those who have contributed the most will receive the most in return. In the present climate we could not continue with indefinite payments because it is unsustainable in cases where people have means to sustain themselves. This had to be examined and now is the time to do it.

However, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs has managed to balance these adjustments with continued supports for those on the lowest tier, for instance those on the jobseeker's allowance and with a supplementary allowance. Let us consider some of the details. Some supports have not kept pace with the changes in people's means in recent years. Despite this, the Minister managed to increase basic payments, including pensions and the carer's and disability allowance. This builds on the firm foundation that the Government and its predecessor built in recent years. This side of the House makes no apology for the improvements made.

Consider previous budget discussions and debates and the acrimony arising from increases in certain payments for those on the lowest incomes. We had to fight to make improvements in some cases. We make no apology for increasing the old age pension in recent years. We will continue to build on that foundation. Consider the payment of the family income supplement scheme which has increased significantly in recent years. I see on a daily basis the way it enables families to maintain a certain lifestyle. The increased limits in this Bill from €500 to €1,250 are welcome.

Even where it has been necessary to make changes, alleviating measures have been put in place. Consider child benefit and the introduction and availability of special alleviating measures for children over 18 years of age in social welfare dependent families or families on low incomes. The legislation will ensure those who need most assistance will gain most. Such a balance is very difficult to create in any social welfare Bill, but this Bill achieves that balance.

Everyone recognises the work of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, and citizens' information centres. The rationalisation of these organisations will benefit and enhance the services they provide. Everyone accepts they provide a significant service to communities throughout the country and I see evidence of this in my constituency too. The rationalisation and strengthening of those organisations and the synergy between the Citizens Information Service and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service will ensure that service continues for many years.

I refer to some of the smaller details in the Bill. There has been considerable discussion about fuel poverty and ways to tackle the problem. There is an 11% increase in the fuel allowance in the Bill and an extension of the fuel season to 32 weeks. This extension and the increase will mean some 300,000 households throughout the country will benefit from these measures. There must be a wider discussion in future. The cost of fuel and the direction in which it is moving has been mentioned, including the peaks and troughs in fuel prices. We continue to support those in greatest need of assistance and these measures will ensure we continue to keep a level playing pitch in this area.

There has been an increase in the number of people eligible to claim the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, which is welcome. The family income supplement scheme will increase the earnings threshold by €10 per child, which gives an increase of up to €6 per week per child. For those in receipt of social welfare payments for children, the qualifying child increase rises from €24 to €26 per week from next January. These changes aim to ensure those who need assistance most will receive it.

I worked in employment exchanges in the Department of Social and Family Affairs during the 1980s and I recognise the difference in the past ten or 15 years in the way the Department operates and the way it disseminates funds. There have been significant improvements in the delivery of the service provided by the Department. The Department must plan ahead if it is to continue to provide that service in what everyone accepts are challenging times.

The Minister, Deputy Hanafin, mentioned pensions in her speech and providing for pensioners in future represents a significant challenge. We must tackle this issue and, to be fair, the previous Administration and this Government have taken on this challenge. A number of groups are working on these matters at the moment and are attempting to foresee how we can ensure that in future the Department of Social and Family Affairs is able to maintain people's lifestyle and ability to survive. We must take on this challenge.

The Government will spend €19.5 billion in 2009, which is an increase of €2.6 billion. The spend will support more than 1.7 million men, women and children in the country, which is a significant improvement on the position some 20 years ago. Look at how people's expectations have risen in those 20 years. This has happened because we have managed to improve the system so much over the years. However, we must rationalise it now and take account of the climate and the budgetary position in which we find ourselves.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs is one of three Departments which has an increased budget this year. Every other Department has a decreased budget. The way this slice of the budget is distributed among those who need assistance is notable. Although we have managed to provide substantial assistance this year there had to be some changes to the way some schemes were administered. Everyone accepts those changes were necessary. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs framed the changes and adjustments in such a way that those most in need are maintained, while those who can afford it have been asked to contribute more, which is only fair. People accept that changes need to be made and although people's income will be affected by some of the change, in the long run the changes will ensure we can continue to provide social welfare payments to the majority of those who need it.

There have been changes to older people's payments and benefits. The Government managed in recent years to ensure senior citizens, who built the country, would be looked after in future and it will continue to do so.

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