Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

— notes recent research commissioned by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Barnardos which found that at least 96,000 children are going without the essentials needed for an acceptable standard of living such as three meals a day, their own books for reading and taking part in clubs and activities;

— notes the Programme for Government promise to maintain social welfare rates;

— calls on the Government to exempt children from shouldering the burden of recovery;

and

— directs the Government to maintain current levels of Child Benefit and other social welfare payments, in particular those impacting on children including adult social welfare payments and eligibility criteria, the Qualified Child Increase and Family Income Supplement.

Two years ago this week the following words were uttered in this Chamber:

Child benefit is keeping many families afloat ... Child benefit is keeping bread on the table. It is paying the food bills of a significant number of families who have had a massive reduction in their income. Often the grandparents are helping to pay the mortgage to keep the wolf from the door, put food on the table and keep the house from being repossessed. That is true of so many families in so many parts of the country to which I have spoken recently and it constitutes a kind of stimulus in the current extraordinarily difficult economic conditions for so many families.

These are laudable words. However, when one considers that they were spoken during a debate on a Labour Party Private Members' motion calling on the then Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government not to cut child benefit, one sees how far the Labour Party is moving to the right in its pursuit of power. Two years later, together with its collaborators in Fine Gael, it is contemplating further reductions in child benefit.

Recalling these words of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, two years ago should embolden Labour Party Members to support tonight's Sinn Féin motion. The Labour Party motion was moved by the Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for primary care, Deputy Róisín Shortall, on 1 December 2009. That motion called on the Dáil to note the "ongoing high cost of raising children in Ireland today and the significant cuts that have already been made to family income". It went on to observe that "every child deserves to be cherished and recognised by the State, regardless of the circumstances of its parents". The motion called on the Government to "maintain child benefit at the current level in the forthcoming budget".

The Sinn Féin motion tonight reiterates that call. More than 205,000 children - 19% of all children in the State - are at risk of poverty. Another 96,000, or 9%, are living in consistent poverty, which means they are experiencing material deprivations such as not having a warm waterproof coat or a substantial daily meal. These figures, compiled by the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions and relating to 2009, are the most recent data on child poverty. The CSO is due to publish the 2010 data tomorrow morning. We anticipate that the numbers of children experiencing consistent poverty will have risen further in the intervening years. My colleagues and I will bring those figures to the attention of Members opposite tomorrow night in order to ensure there is no doubt in their mind as to the effect of reductions in child benefit.

The role played by child benefit in tackling child poverty is irrefutable and was acknowledged last week by the Minister, Deputy Burton, during a debate in this Chamber. In 2005 consistent child poverty stood at 11%. Subsequent child benefit increases, together with general wage increases, helped to reduce that figure to 6% in 2008. However, that trend is now reversing following the cuts to child benefit imposed by the Fianna Fáil Government. Any additional reduction next Tuesday would further accelerate this reversal. Media reports have suggested that a cut of €10 is on the cards. A monthly loss of that magnitude might sound like nothing to those on high wages, but to a low or middle-income family with three children, an annual cut of €360 is very significant. Consider, for example, that the minimum cost of sending a 12 year old to school is €815.

Not only is it wrong to cut child benefit but it is also unnecessary. A €10 reduction would save the State in the region of €150 million. However, as we illustrated in our pre-budget submission, the Government has a whole host of alternative options to choose from which would help to close the budget deficit while also protecting children. For instance, a third rate of tax at 48% on incomes in excess of €100,000 would raise €410 million. A wealth tax of 1% on assets worth more than €1 million would raise €800 million. It is a question of political choice.

Any reduction in child benefit will have a further negative impact on our struggling economy, especially locally. The Labour Party used to agree with we me on this. Its 2009 Private Members' motion stated that "cutting child benefit would be far more deflationary than alternative revenue raising or cost-saving measures open to the Government". This remains the case. Speaking on that motion, the Minister, Deputy Burton, then spokesperson on finance, said: "It should be remembered that child benefit is spent in this country - on children's shoes, food and school books. It is probably one of the best stimuli". The same could be said of all social welfare payments.

Last week the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, ISME, highlighted the multiplier effect of spending in the local economy, pointing out that a €10 spend locally generates an additional €24. Conversely, for every €10 cut in child benefit, €34 will effectively be drained from local economies. This will have disastrous consequences for local shops and their suppliers, resulting in even more job losses.

It is important to address the debate surrounding universalism versus means testing or "targeting", as it is called. To put it in context, child benefit is our only universal payment. Countries which base their social protection systems on universal payments are faring better in this time of financial crisis. Generous universal social welfare payments act as an automatic stabiliser during a financial crash. Universal payments buffer demand in the local economy, thereby protecting jobs which in turn protects state revenues. Generous universal payments also enable a workforce to be flexible, a key requirement of competitiveness.

Child benefit should remain a universal payment. Talk of targeting will merely dig us deeper into the recessionary hole. A range of child benefit reforms is being and has been considered by this and previous Governments, including means testing or taxing the payment, both of which are thankfully being deemed an administrative nightmare. If people are genuinely concerned that spending on child benefit profits the wealthy then the fairest and simplest thing to do is to maintain it as a universal payment and use the general tax system to tax wealthy people at a higher rate.

There has been some speculation that child benefit will be cut and the qualified child increase will be raised so that the Government can claim that the vulnerable have been protected. However, such a measure would be no compensation at all for the hundreds of thousands of low and middle income earners whose families do not qualify for social welfare. A move like this would also reinforce poverty traps and unemployment traps as the gap between income from outside of employment and from employment would be narrowed as a result.

I want to pre-empt some of the arguments that will be made that Ireland's child benefit rate and other relevant social welfare rates are relatively high. Someone will undoubtedly raise the fact that child benefit is significantly lower in the Six Counties. I can hear Deputy Buttimer already. We heard him spouting earlier but without any knowledge of how the Six Counties is organised. He has already wrongly charged my party with engaging in double standards.

Such an argument would be based on two false assumptions. The first assumption is that my party has fiscal powers. This is not so because these are retained by Britain, primarily because previous Administrations here did not have the commitment to support republican demands for a full transfer of powers. They could not be bothered and they have not been bothered since the founding of this State.

The second assumption is that like is being compared with like and this is not so. For example, in the Six Counties, people do not have to fork out more than €60 every time a child gets sick. Likewise, across Europe, countries may have a lower specific child benefit rate but the state contributes much more to the cost of raising the next generation in a range of other ways that far exceed the difference. For example, in Finland, which is world-renowned for its literacy outcomes, education is truly free for all. There are no school fees, books are free and a free lunch is available to all children, regardless of means. In addition, unlike many other countries, the Irish tax system does not recognise the existence of children, unless they have a serious and permanent disability. Under our tax system, a couple with a child pay the same tax as a couple without a child, despite the significant and growing costs of raising children.

It is anyone's guess whether the €10 cut to child benefit is really on the cards or if it is just another kite flown by the Government. This motion is providing Members with an opportunity tomorrow evening to make it clear that child benefit is off the table when it comes to the budget. We are offering Government Deputies the opportunity to declare that they will exempt all children from the burden of recovery. We are offering Government Deputies the opportunity to live up to their pre-election promises and to their programme for Government commitmentwhich states, "We will maintain social welfare rates". Fianna Fáil already landed children with the burden of recovery and the sins of their cronies by twice cutting child benefit rates. The people reacted and they voted for a change in Government. I call on this Government and the Government Deputies to support this motion and demonstrate real change.

In the final days of the general election campaign, the Labour Party sold itself on a promise to protect child benefit from cuts. Speaking to a group of mothers in my own constituency at the Saint Nicholas of Myra parish centre, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, now Tánaiste, promised that his party would protect families. He stated, "[Things] like not cutting child benefit any further. Enough is enough. Families can take no more". The Labour Party made this a red-line issue pre-election. The time has come to deliver. If the Labour Party cuts child benefit or other social welfare rates which impact on children, it will commit nothing short of electoral fraud.

The Labour Party should not give us the tired old excuses such as, "no decision has yet been taken"; "we cannot disclose under the budgetary process"; "everything is on the table". Fine Gael Ministers have had no problem making unequivocal commitments not to raise income taxes on the wealthy so there is no barrier preventing any backbenchers and Ministers from voting in support of the Sinn Féin motion.

Níos lú ná 20 cent in aghaidh uair an chloig a fhaigheann tuismitheoiri i bhfoirm liúntas leanaí. Níl aon duine chun a bheith saibhir ar an ráta sin. Ní éireoidh na daoine a bhailíonn liúntais shóisialta saibhir, a bhfuil géar gá leo chun teacht tríd an gcruachás ina bhfuil siad. Smaoinigh ar na costais ar pháiste a chur chun na scoile, ar dhochtúirí, ar oispidéil agus ar rudaí eile. In ainneoin na ngeallúntaí a tugadh roimh an toghcháin agus ó shin nach ngearrfar liúntais leanaí nó aon liúntas leasa shóisialta, tá sin tarlaithe cheana féin. Tá an Rialtas tar éis leasaithe a ghearradh.

Impím, ar Theachtaí atá ar na cúlbhinsí ach go háirithe, seasamh linn ar an rún seo isdoíche amárach.

See this speech in context