Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Despite the clear and categoric promises that Labour Party candidates made during the election, this Bill cuts the child benefit paid to almost a quarter of all families. Commencing in January, child benefit for the third and fourth child will be slashed over the course of two years. Child benefit for a family with three children will be cut by €27 and child benefit for a family with four children will be cut by €64 per month. Is this family planning the Labour way? Why is the Minister punishing large families? Even at this the 11th hour, I implore her to reconsider.

Why does the Government not cap consultants' pay instead? Even a cap of €150,000 per annum would more than cover the cost of these cuts to child benefit, saving the Exchequer approximately €100 million. As we have outlined, the Minister had many options from which to choose. Shame on her for knowingly impoverishing children.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party are hammering lone parents and their children in the budget. Between the harsh changes to the earnings disregard, the withdrawal of concurrent payments and the lowering of the age of the youngest child to seven years, the Bill will force thousands into long-term welfare dependency and further impoverish lone parents and their children. I remind the Minister that the special earnings disregard for lone parents was introduced for good reason, that is, to tackle an identified unemployment trap. With this Bill, the Government is defying an orthodoxy and reinstating a poverty trap that, according to her comments to an Oireachtas committee not too long ago, she wants to address. We did not expect that she would remove one of the supports intended to address it.

My constituency of Dublin South-Central has a significant number of single parent families, accounting for 38% of families whereas the national average is 19%. A greater proportion of families are headed by single fathers in Dublin South-Central than in the State as a whole. Government Deputies Michael Conaghan, Eric Byrne and Catherine Byrne are from my constituency. Voters will watch how they vote on this Bill. I urge them to break ranks with their parties and to vote against these devastating cuts.

While the Bill does not contain many of the elements of the cuts declared on Monday, it is the Government's intention to proceed with them. Further fundamental cuts to the system of support for lone parents will be contained in a second Social Welfare Bill early next year. For example, it will reduce to seven years the maximum age of the youngest child in respect of whom lone parents payment can be received. This is being done in the context of high unemployment and minimal activation supports. Given the reality that affordable child care and afterschool care are non-existent, is the Minister advising parents to leave their eight year old children at home? This will be the cut's consequence.

Reducing the redundancy rebate from 60% to 15% will hit workers who have lost their jobs. Sinn Féin has always encouraged employers, particularly those who continue trading after some lay-offs, to offer redundancy payments over and above the statutory minimum whenever possible. To date, good employers have done so. As a result of cutting the redundancy rebate, however, many more people who will lose their jobs because of the budget and other economic circumstances will only be offered the bare minimum by employers. Good employers will not be able to afford any more. This will increase the hardship suffered by thousands of families in the event of more job losses. A cut of this type will take money from the pockets of the unemployed. This measure will also cost jobs, as some employers will need to let more people go in order to afford a greater portion of the redundancy.

The Minister stated that she made her decision after a long discussion with her party and Government colleagues, but she did not discuss it with those tasked with its implementation or the legislation's drafting. Departmental officials confirmed to my office yesterday that, in devising this proposal, the Minister did not assess the impact of this measure on companies. She did not even seek to determine whether the measure could be linked in some way to the size of the firm, its profitability or its capacity to absorb the change.

My colleagues, Deputies Martin Ferris and Colreavy, will address the changes to farm assist. My colleague, Deputy McDonald, will address the changes to contributions required for pensions.

Section 12 reduces the period for backdating claims for contributory pensions from 12 months to six months. This measure picks the pockets of a group of pensioners to the tune of €18 million. Claimants are entitled to that money and have paid for it through their contributions over the years. It is a mean, low cut.

Some cuts will only require ministerial orders and will not appear before the House. The Bill is a partial outworking of the budget. I will address some of the odious social welfare cuts that do not require primary legislation and, therefore, will not be voted on by the House, let alone discussed. These cuts are to the fuel allowance, the back to school allowance, rent supplement, the non-contributory State pension, certain half-rate payments and hearing aids. They require the Minister's signature, but all such cuts should be debated in a committee of the House so that the potential consequences of her actions can be fully explored before she puts pen to paper. Where is the reform and openness promised by the Labour and Fine Gael parties before the elections? It is another broken promise.

The decision to cut the fuel allowance by €120 is scandalous and will cost lives. The Government is targeting older people and those with disabilities in particular. This decision follows on from the cut to the fuel allowance received by many people, particularly in urban areas, and the cuts of up to 25% in every allowance under the household benefits package imposed by the Government in September. This comes at a time when the Government has allowed fuel prices to increase by more than 20%.

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