Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Amendments could have been submitted up until the completion of Second Stage but I do not wish to argue the technical aspects.

I oppose section 3 of the Bill because the cuts being proposed in section 3 are unjust. It is timely that the latest set of inflation figures were published subsequent to the budget. When the Minister for Finance came to the House on Wednesday he was working on the basis that annual inflation was running at 6.5%. The European measure of inflation which is a far more accurate measure shows that inflation is running at 2.8% which is 1.2% less than the cut in the social welfare budget introduced on Wednesday and 3.2% greater of a cut has been proposed this year when the Christmas bonus is taken into account along with the cut announced on Wednesday. These cuts are unjust and unfair, especially to carers, the disabled, blind people and it is morally wrong to introduce a cut of 6%. As my colleague, Deputy Kenny said, this is the first Minister in eight years who has introduced cuts to the must vulnerable in our society. The cuts before us fail to recognise the important role of carers in our community. Carers are people who give up work to care for an elderly or disabled person in the home thus saving the State approximately €40,000 a year and now having made that decision to commit to the long-term care of an individual, the Minister is cutting their payments.

I have two questions for the Minister. The adult dependant allowance for those under 66 years is being cut. In the case of a person in receipt of a contributory old age pension, is the adult dependant allowance for a spouse under 66 years also being cut? If this is the case it is a misrepresentation to say that pensioners are not being affected by these cuts because we know they are being affected by the withdrawal of the Christmas bonus.

The Minister referred on Second Stage to the issue of fraud. I have a letter dated 9 September 2009 relating to an applicant who was signing on for credits for jobseeker's benefit. In this letter of 9 September she has been told that the next date for signing on is 7 July 2010. I am informed the reason it is being dragged out for so long is because there is a backlog of these cases and overcrowding in the local offices and the person is not in receipt of a payment. The individual in question, who is a non-Irish European citizen, is receiving credits for entitlement to some of benefit payments at a future date. If the Minister is focused on fraud, how is it possible for a person to be told to sign on again in 11 months at which point he or she will be given credited contributions for the intervening period? This contradicts her argument that she is tough on fraud. It is frustrating for people to see the Minister cut basic payments to vulnerable people while turning a blind eye to fraud.

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