Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The party's attack of conscience is a little rich and a little late. If it is genuine and sustainable, it is welcome but must wait and see if that is the case. Between 2008 and early 2011, Fianna Fáil imposed unnecessary, counter-productive and draconian cuts to social welfare payments which affected the lives of many people. They targeted jobseekers, carers, people with disabilities, pensioners, children and lone parents. The cuts were introduced to protect the wealthy and the money saved was ploughed into the black hole of bank bondholders, an issue the House discussed earlier, and used, in the main, to pay off rich German and French gamblers.

The social welfare cuts introduced by the previous Government have had a depressing impact on local economies, the result of which has been more job losses. We continue to see the horrendous effects of cuts, such as the abolition last year of the Christmas bonus, on those directly affected, whereas their effects on local retailers and manufacturers have not been fully quantified. Many shops closed and many jobs were lost as a consequence of this measure. Rather than protecting the Christmas bonus and using it as a stimulus mechanism, as Sinn Féin advocated, the previous Government chose to abolish it.

As to the impact of the cuts, a couple with two children who were struggling to survive on social welfare had their allowances cut by nearly 10% between 2009 and 2011. Over the same period, a lone parent with a three year old child had her allowances cut by €43, while carers and people with disabilities suffered similar reductions in income. While it was depressing enough to go through that period under the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government, the new Government, which was elected on a platform that included a commitment not to cut social welfare, a commitment it repeated in the programme for Government, has proceeded to implement one of the most serious cuts to date. I refer to the decision it took in July to cut the household benefits package and fuel allowance, which will be a matter of life and death for many people.

The Fine Gael-Labour Party Government is pursuing a depressingly familiar approach. Between 1,500 and 2,000 avoidable deaths occur every year as a result of cold. The recent cuts in fuel allowance will undoubtedly increase this figure. The Sinn Féin amendment calls for their reversal before they seriously impact on health, specifically the health of pensioners and those who live alone or in substandard accommodation. The consequences of proposed cuts must be examined before they are implemented. This was not done in this case. Sinn Féin proposed an alternative to the Minister for Social Protection. Rather than impose cuts on the fuel allowance, she should have imposed cuts on energy suppliers such as the ESB before contemplating any other cut. She chose not to do so until after the cuts were introduced and has still not managed to address the issue in the ESB. The cut which was introduced in July and took effect in September must be reversed immediately.

Recently, at the launch of new research, Eamon Timmins of Age Action described the cuts in the fuel allowance as "literally a life and death issue for hundreds of older people who will struggle to heat their homes to a safe level over the coming months". The research shows that during the winter of 2006-07, there were 1,281 excess winter deaths, of whom the vast majority were older people. The figure has increased in the meantime. I guarantee that the exceptionally cold conditions of last winter and the abolition of the Christmas bonus resulted in many more people being forced to leave lighting and heating switched off. The consequences for many will have been death or admission to an accident and emergency department.

Age Action sent out a questionnaire to a large number of people. Almost one quarter of respondents stated their homes were too cold. Even more startling was the finding that 51% of respondents went without other necessities such as food and clothing to pay their fuel bills. Anyone who canvassed in the recent presidential election or the general election in February will have noticed homes where lights were not switched on and the interior was almost as cold as the outside temperature. This was not because people want to live in such conditions but because they cannot afford to switch on their lighting or heating. At the very time the Minister was imposing changes to the household benefits package, the ESB and Bord Gáis were increasing their prices by between 20% and 25%. This is an additional factor.

The Minister stated that social welfare payments here are higher than in other countries. One of the reasons for this is that the cost of living here, including the price of fuel and other necessities, is higher than in other countries. For this reason, current social welfare rates must be retained to enable people to survive.

The Minister went further than anyone else in her efforts to demonise people on social welfare when she described unemployment as a "lifestyle choice". Attacking the unemployed for being out of work allows the Government to shift on to others the blame for the state of the economy. Rather than accept responsibility for not having a job creation strategy and refusing to bail out the banks, it is pursuing easy targets, namely, the hundreds and thousands of people who rely on the little they receive from the State to get by. It is possible to tackle the annual budget deficit without cutting spending on social welfare but a political decision must be made to do so. While I support measures to address social welfare fraud and reduce the bureaucratic and human error which leads to overpayment, I will not accept any demonisation of those who are dependent on social welfare.

Contrary to what the previous speaker stated, jobs are not available and retraining and educational opportunities are limited for those who are living a soul-destroying life on the dole. What we need are real sustainable jobs. These jobs are even harder to come by for people who are disabled, people with child care responsibilities and people aged 50 or over.

We need a change, but the Government does not seem to be bringing about that change. Hopefully, the amendment I am putting forward will be accepted. At the least, I hope it will be read by the Minister when considering any cuts to the social welfare rates in the forthcoming budget. Any cut will mean that people will be left to suffer the consequences, which may, as we know already, mean death.

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