Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Social Welfare Bill. The disastrous economic situation in which we find ourselves is a result of the reckless policies of Fianna Fáil in government over the past ten years. We now have approximately 450,000 people out of work and approximately 100,000 people have emigrated. Now, in the budget the most vulnerable members of our society have been attacked.

I would like to draw the Minister's attention to the serious problems that are arising as a result of the recession. It has been recognised that one of the issues that arises as a result of recession is an increase in suicide. Last year there was an increase of 25% in the number of suicides here and an increase of 10% in the level of self-harm. When people suffer job losses and job insecurity, financial distress, the loss of their homes or the threat of the loss of their homes, this affects their self-esteem. People identify work with self-esteem and the lack of work creates relationship difficulties, leads to an increase in divorce and to increased substance abuse, particularly of alcohol and drugs. This creates a societal issue with which we must deal.

We now face a situation where the most vulnerable have been attacked. These are the people who must live on the lowest levels of income because of their disability, their life circumstances or the need to care for one of their loved ones. The reduction in carer's benefit, pensions for the blind and disability allowances will seriously impact on the quality of life of the people receiving those benefits, although they are already under significant pressure because of their circumstances. The 160,000 carers working in Ireland last year saved the country €2.5 billion. As Deputy Enda Kenny said this morning, there is no moral or social case for cutting the income of such vulnerable people. The Minister has informed us that the cuts will save €96 million, but we have put forward a clear alternative. Fine Gael proposes a single payment and entitlement service that would cut out the 20+ Government bodies that currently administer entitlements. This would bring about massive savings through reducing administration costs, reducing fraud and the reduction of errors. I will draw attention to some of these issues later.

There is a clear alternative for the Minister to make savings of €96 million and more. For example, many times over the years it has been pointed out in the House that various agencies carry out means tests.

Means tests are required for the medical card, unemployment assistance and many other benefits. Centralising these tests in one agency is an example of where efficiencies and savings can be achieved.

I am concerned that the dependent child allowance was not increased to compensate for the reduction in child benefit. Some local social welfare offices take up to three months to process applications for the jobseeker's allowance. Reference has already been made to the redeployment of staff. The carer's allowance and disability allowance sections in Longford should be investigated under the Croke Park agreement.

Irish people who worked in this country before going to Canada or Australia for a year or two are being required to complete habitual residence forms before they can claim jobseeker's allowance. This delays their applications and increases bureaucracy. Even if they leave for a year or two, people who were born and worked in Ireland should not be treated the same way as those who come to Ireland from another country and never worked a day here. In one case, a young man from Limerick who attended school and college in Ireland and worked here during his summer holidays was told to fill out a habitual residency form because he studied in Edinburgh for one year to qualify as an engineer.

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