John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013. The Bill gives us an opportunity to reflect on some of the areas of social welfare that probably need to change, and some recipients who recently had major cuts imposed on them.

I always contend we have two categories of people on social welfare, namely, the old, the sick and people with disabilities who depend very much on social welfare and do not see any other way of getting an income for the future, and then the people who are able and want to work but who are unable to get a job. It is important that those people can avail of relevant courses in counties where job opportunities might be available.

In the past I argued with Ministers in my party that an analysis should be carried out in each county of the type of jobs available and match the courses to such jobs. For example, I represent a very agriculture-related county which has a large number of meat factories and produces a large number of products related to agriculture and fisheries. These are the areas courses in Wexford could specialise in but courses operated by FÁS and other agencies appear to bear no relevance to the job opportunities that might be available in the county. It is important that we would reflect on that and have an analysis carried out by the Minister's Department and the Department of the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to match jobs to courses that might be available in future.

A number of Deputies earlier reflected on the position of the self-employed. In the past three or four years a huge number of self-employed people have lost their businesses and their income. They have come to me and other Deputies asking us to make representations to the local community welfare officer or to the Department of Social Welfare. However, there is not much flexibility in terms of helping such people and by the time analysis is carried out and books and accounts are presented, families find it very difficult to survive. I have had many men and women from a self-employed background crying in my office because they are unable to get social welfare payments. That is an area that should be reflected in any pension changes in the future. I appreciate the Minister is trying to focus on that area and encourage people and I will return to that.

It is important to have a pension structure that is financially sustainable and socially adequate. We must always believe in basic pension provisions being universally available and ensure that all citizens can live in dignity, particularly in old age, and get social welfare payments when they lose their job, which in my opinion should be only on a temporary basis.

The Minister has tabled a number of amendments to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, for example, extension of PRSI and the new identification requirements where the card system will be introduced. I do not have a problem with the card system, and I hope as the Minister stated it will be done in a sensitive way because many old age pensioners and people on disability allowance may not be able to get to the local social welfare office or to the other areas to make themselves available to have their photographs taken, authorisation of their signature electronically and so on for identification purposes. Will that be done only in social welfare offices or can it be done in a post office where many people, particularly old age pensioners, claim their social welfare payments? In Wexford, for example, the only social welfare office is in Wexford town. A very large number of people would only go to their post office. The Minister might examine that to determine if it can be done in post offices to make life easier for people who will have to comply with the regulations once the Minister introduces them.

Regarding the one-parent family payment, the Minister's announcement in the budget regarding the proposed changes has caused many problems and is the subject of many representations to me and, I am sure, to other Deputies, particularly the one in 2014 regarding the child aged seven. In her budget speech the Minister said she would seriously examine that and take into account the possibilities of child care facilities not being available and whatever else that might be required but it is the one issue in the budget that has caused many problems and is the subject of many representations from people on the one-parent family payment.

I will not call it a climb down but I welcome that the Minister has made suggestions to make changes in this area. We know that approximately 36% of recipients are already in paid work of one sort or another. The aim must be to increase that percentage and ensure that lone parents can progress to full-time work, which is an aspiration for all lone parents. However, many lone parents only work on a part-time basis because of child-minding difficulties and it is important that is reflected on before the Minister makes her final decisions on that area.

I welcome the right to jobseeker's benefit for part-time firefighters. That has been an area of contention for as long as I have been a Member of this House and no Minister ever saw to make the changes. I thank the Minister for recognising the role of part-time firefighters. They do a tremendous job. Some people say they make a lot of money but I do not accept that, judging by the payments firefighters in my county receive. However, it is important they would be entitled to social welfare payments when they qualify, and I welcome that the Minister has introduced that.

Regarding the pensions council, it will comprise of a chairperson, a representative of the Minister for Social Protection, the Pensions Regulator, a representative of the Central Bank, and a representative of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Minister has the right to appoint eight members with relevant skills and specialist knowledge. She might outline those relevant skills when replying. Will an old age pensioner, a lone parent or someone from the widowers association be represented on the board? A mistake many Ministers made in the past was to appoint professional people to boards, many of whom did not have a lot of commonsense. It is important that people in receipt of social welfare, who are Department's consumers, are represented on the pensions council. The general public will be happy to see that the pensions council members will be unpaid and that it is not a case of another quango being set up with chief executives and people on high salaries.

I hope the pensions council will have a strong consumer focus. In particular it should examine the area of pension charges. One of the persistent criticisms of the private pensions industry is that it is designed to make vast sums of money for the fund managers, administrators and intermediaries. It has often been described as opaque, confusing and offering mediocre to poor value for pension holders. I hope the pensions council will seriously examine that area.

The Minister reduced rent supplement and mortgage interest supplement last year and again this year. This is causing severe problems in some parts of the country where private rents are very high. I know the Minister will reply that the more money she gives in rent supplement, the more landlords will charge, but in all counties on the east coast, rents are extremely high and the reductions in rent supplement have caused severe hardship for many people. I try to get landlords to come down on their charges but it is difficult because they will answer that the property tax and NPPR charges must be paid. In many cases, however, they are passing those charges on to the tenant. The reductions in rent supplement have caused problems for those on social welfare who are renting. They are finding it very hard to make ends meet at present.

According to the national Pensions Board, only 54% of people in the workforce have pension coverage. Within the working population there are wide disparities. Public service coverage is over 90% while in some areas of the private sector, coverage is low. The national pensions framework published by the last Government in 2011 cites the example of the hotel and restaurant sector, where pension coverage is only 23%, while the wholesale and retail trade has only 36% coverage. Independent consumer research carried out on behalf of the Pensions Board indicates that almost eight out of ten people who do not contribute to a pension say the State pension will not meet their needs in retirement. Although employers are obliged by law to offer employees access to a pension, 43% of those interviewed had not been offered access. Of those, 93% had never asked an employer about access to a pension. There are serious problems in this area.

The key issue is the improvement of coverage. This must be done through a combination of incentives, soft and hard. Mandatory pensions must be considered. People might criticise my saying that but almost all OECD countries, with the exceptions of Ireland and New Zealand, have compulsory pension savings. It is an area we must look seriously at. I do not know if the new pensions council will have the power to look at this topic but it will have the power to make recommendations to the Minister and the Minister will have to act on them. The time has come to look seriously at the whole pension situation in the country so pension schemes will be adequate financially. It is particularly important that those with a disability and the sick will continue to be looked after in a fair manner. The cuts to the free fuel allowance, the carer's allowance and the exceptional needs payments are causing severe hardship for families on social welfare. How will the Minister address that? A lot of money is being pumped into social welfare at present. The Minister is talking about pension schemes today and it is important that we have a pension scheme that will meet the needs of the people.

I hear talk about Ireland being the seventh richest country in the world but I do not know how these people define rich. I am a long time in the House and I do not see any of this wealth being made available to the Department of Social Protection. Perhaps someone will explain to me how they define this wealth if Ireland is the seventh richest country. What advantage does that offer the ordinary people of this country? The only finances I see available for ordinary people are the taxes they have paid.

It is important that we encourage as many people as possible back into the work environment. The only way we will get out of this situation is to get more people back to work. The courses that will be designed by the Department should reflect the job opportunities available.

I generally welcome this Bill and hope it passes through the House as quickly as possible. I hope the Minister will take on board those amendments that might improve the Bill. It is important we have a social welfare system that is fair and equitable and that will continue to look after those who need social welfare payments.

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