Dáil debates

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

7:00 pm

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all of the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"recognises the significant improvements made in recent years in supports for people with disabilities and their carers, including:

— substantial increases between 1997 and 2009 in the weekly rates of payment to people with disabilities and carers and such increases have been a multiple of the increase in the cost of living over that period;

— greatly increased eligibility for income support payments as a result of significant easing of the means tests, with much higher income disregards;

— a fivefold increase in expenditure on the disability allowance since 1997;

— a fourteenfold increase in expenditure by the Department of Social and Family Affairs on supports for carers since 1997;

— the introduction in 2007 of the half-rate carer's allowance which provides significant additional support for carers in receipt of social welfare payments;

— an increase in the value of the respite care grant from just €254 in 1997 to €1,700 in 2009 and enabling it to be paid to people who are not in receipt of carer's allowance or carer's benefit; and

— improvements in the additional supports that many people with disabilities and their carers receive, including the household benefits package of free television licence, electricity and telephone, as well as free travel;

notes that after budget 2010, the weekly rate of payment for the disability allowance and carer's allowance will still be almost 20% higher next year than in 2006; and

welcomes the Government's decision to retain the half-rate carer's allowance and the respite care grant and to avoid any cuts in the weekly rate of carer's allowance paid to carers aged over 66."

At the outset, I wish to state that as Minister for Social and Family Affairs, I absolutely appreciate that any cut in welfare payments is not easy for people. I also understand that even a cut of €8.50 has an impact on people. However, I also understand the particular challenges that people with disabilities face in their daily lives and the sacrifices that family carers make to look after their loved ones. I note that the motion tabled this evening referred to the aforementioned two groups of people. Moreover, two Members spoke sympathetically in the Chamber this evening about widows. However, as Fine Gael's own proposals involved cutting the widow's allowance, there is not much point in crying about them in the House this evening.

The Government is acutely conscious of the vital supports that the welfare system provides to a range of groups in our society. It was for precisely this reason that when resources were available, the Government invested heavily in improving social welfare rates and services for all those who are reliant on the State for income support. I assure the House that the decision to reduce social welfare rates was not taken lightly and that every possible step has been taken to protect the most vulnerable in society.

However, the Government was faced in this budget with a stark choice. The major improvements in welfare payments in recent years were made possible by increases in the amount of money the State was taking in from taxes.

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