Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to contribute to this debate. I understand we are talking about the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008. In very difficult economic circumstances, the social welfare budget for 2009 is €19.6 billion, a 15.5% increase from 2008. I cannot understand how that is described as savage and vicious. It was a remarkable achievement for the Government to come out with that package for social welfare dependants in these difficult times. How could an increase of €2.6 billion be savage and vicious? These were the words used by Opposition Deputies. They feel that if they keep on saying those words, somebody will finally think there is something wrong with billions of euro. It is the most extraordinary commentary I have ever heard. One of the previous speakers spoke about the money for back-to-school allowances, but this amount has been increased enormously. How is that savage and vicious?

I deal with a great many people every weekend who want quicker access to their benefits, and who seek advice on their entitlements. Therefore, I know what I am talking about, no matter what anybody says to the contrary. I must praise the people who work in social welfare offices around the country and how quickly they respond when we ask parliamentary questions. I refer in particular to the child benefit section in the office in Letterkenny, which responds within 24 hours. One of the benefits of being a Deputy is that we can bring solace and comfort when we get a reply. Of course, that only happens when the reply is good. When I was in the Seanad, we did not have that benefit and I missed it greatly. The people in the section in Letterkenny and in other sections should be praised for the way they attend to their jobs.

Family income supplement, FIS, is a benefit that is not publicised well enough and people do not get full access to it. There is not a week that goes by when I ask somebody whether they have thought of applying for FIS. They rarely know what it is, but when I explain it to them and they give me some of their details, I tell them that I think they would qualify. A snappy advertising campaign should be conducted to promote this. There used to be such campaigns before, but I have not seen any sign of it lately. A snappy advertising of FIS is necessary so people on low incomes know there is help at hand. As far as I know, there have been increases in FIS, so more people should avail of it. However, there is a need for it to be publicised.

The carer's allowance is where the greatest disparity occurs in the judgments made on those who have applied for it. No matter what evidence is produced in support of the person applying for the allowance, it is disallowed. One has the right to appeal, but I have never seen an appeal succeed in over 20 years of public life. The exact same result occurs every time. We do not know the criteria involved, although I think there is an adjudicating officer and an appeals officer. The appeal wends its way upwards and backwards, but the result is always the same. I have had to appeal to the Ombudsman on a particular case about the disallowance of a carer's allowance. The case is clearcut to me, as the documentary evidence includes signed affidavits. The lady for whom the carer was caring has subsequently passed away, but that does not take away from the fact that she was denied the carer's allowance for two years. I do not know the grounds on which the appeal was turned down, and I simply cannot understand it.

The Money Advice and Budgeting Service does enormous good, and it has taken many decent people out of a financial hole that was not of their own making. The service is clear, clinical and kind, and its staff get at the problems and make sure the people seeking its advice know what they are about. They set up a budgetary system and visit those to whom the people owe money. They set out an agenda for payments to which the people involved can adhere. They see a way through the fog, where previously there was no way through.

The Minister has brought forward a range of improvements in the Bill. State pensioners are to receive €7 extra per week. I heard the previous speaker say that was nothing, but that is not so because people are appreciative of the increase. We know it is all taxpayers' money but in a time of desperate economic straits they were glad to see such an increase — an extra €2 on the fuel allowance with two weeks extra at the end of April. All these increases begin in January. I well remember that when we came back into Government in 1997, many of these payments were being paid from April and June of the following year, which is quite ridiculous if they should be in play for a budget year. However, there have been improvements in how such things are set out.

According to the statistics, 18,000 more families are now becoming eligible for the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. How can that be savage and vicious, which is what a previous speaker said? The figure is above what was eligible prior to that. I often meet with families who feel they should be eligible, but when one goes through it, sadly, they are not. Be that as it may, however, that is the extra number.

I wish to make a few general points. While I do not mean this unkindly on the two gentlemen who are occupying the Fine Gael front bench at the moment, they must feel all their Christmases have come together. All they have to do is put down a motion on whatever is the "scandal" of the week before. I do not mean to use that word in a scandalous sense——

See this speech in context