Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I commend the Minister and her staff in the Department for bringing this Bill to the House. We are living in changing, uncertain and challenging times but what we need now is courage to do the many tasks that should have been done previously. The Bill is the first step to bring reform to the social welfare system.

I welcome the reversal of the cut in the minimum wage, the 5,000 jobs initiative and the State pension being pushed out to the age of 67, of which I myself will be a beneficiary when the time comes. It represents a thinking in advance for the benefit of older persons.

A thought that struck me about the programme on fraud in the country last night on TV3 is that there was no remorse shown by anybody, they saw nothing wrong with what was happening and there was a mentality that they were well within their rights to do what they had done because others have done so before them. What a message to give to the country, to the people outside and, above all, to our children.

There are many flaws in the social welfare system and the Minister might address some of these in the future. One of the biggest issues I face on a daily basis is rent allowance and its abuse. Last year the Government provided €600 million in rent allowance and I cannot understand this because in our communities there are a considerable number of apartments and houses lying idle. Perhaps this money should be put into something that will benefit people in the long run, not just a quick fix. We have all heard the stories of persons renting out rooms even though they themselves are on the rent allowance, which is fraud and needs to be tackled.

Deputy Naughten spoke about small businesses and the fact so many hard-working people who find themselves unemployed were keeping three and four persons in jobs in the local community and now their jobs have gone by the wayside. As he stated, such employees were able to claim social welfare but many of those with small businesses now find themselves struggling on a daily basis even to put bread on the table. Many of those are well into their 50s and believe there may not be anything for them. For many of them who cannot receive social welfare there is no possible chance of them going on a FÁS scheme or even being able to avail of a back to education programme. That must be looked at.

As a mother I understand how difficult it is to bring up children but it is even more difficult to bring them up on one's own. I ask the Minister to consider in the future in the social welfare code that we look at the role of fathers in lone parent families. Some fathers have no contact at all with their children. They do not want contact. They are not even interested in making any small financial contribution to bring up the children they have helped to bring into the world. For instance, in a case in my area a young man has five children, all with different partners, and has never contributed anything to the raising of them. It is a significant problem for young people to believe that they can just walk away. Having children is a responsibility and one must take on that responsibility when one has them.

We need to support those who are in need, not to support those who think they are in need. There are many who believe they are in need, yet when all the pages are turned and everything about them is looked at, they are the ones who are not in need at all. There are many who for the first time must sign on the dole and seek jobseeker's allowance. They have never done it previously. We need to protect these people even at a time when the State is being defrauded by many who are going out to work on the black market.

Many who are over 50 are being means tested if their partner has had an income or been working and many of them now feel they are being left on the scrapheap. They have no social welfare and no proper cover if they want to take up a FÁS scheme. They cannot even avail of back to education facilities. This must be tackled.

I firmly believe the Bill is the first step in the direction we need to take. We need to be more accountable and transparent and we need to watch how we use and avail of our funds in future. Many who have never been in the social welfare system are reluctant to continue receiving payments because they believe they are well capable of working. The Minister must do everything within her power to ensure that in future we have an opportunity to give those people an education, whether through FÁS schemes or job initiatives.

I welcome the Bill and I hope the Minister will continue in her endeavour to reform the social welfare system.

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