Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this important debate on the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill. It is a sad day for this country and a sadder day for its citizens when one looks at the measures included in this legislation. Before going into the details of the Bill, it is a bad day for the country when one hears that over 100 children with Down's syndrome were turned down for medical cards in recent weeks. This is a national scandal. It is a disgrace that a child with a recognised disability should be denied a medical card.

What the hell is going on in this country? Is this the Minister's new politics? Is this her new Ireland? What about the vulnerable and weak people in this society? Where are the Minister's moral and ethical values? Where is the just society influence in this legislation, given the way in which sick, elderly and disabled people are being treated?

These are the fundamental questions which need to be answered. The equality agenda is being ripped up and hammered. Only yesterday, we saw the dormant racism and prejudice that exists in Ireland concerning families and children living here. Would the Garda and the HSE go charging into a white, middle-income family from Dún Laoghaire or Castleknock looking for birth certificates? Would members of the Government do so? They should ask themselves that question.

As regards the Bill before us, what about the words "social" and "welfare"? What about the welfare of these children? We need to wake up and not just have wishy-washy statements to the effect that we are not a prejudiced country. Racism is out there and it must be dealt with. Similarly, sectarianism in the North must be dealt with. We must be vigilant and should cop on. I urge the Government and the Minister to wake up to these issues because we are talking about the welfare of citizens.

One in four families with children are one-parent families. Over 500,000 people live in one-parent families. Almost one in five, or 18.3%, live in a one-parent family. There are 215,000 one-parent families, which is 25.8% of all families. Some 87,586 of these are currently in receipt of the one-parent family payment. Those living in one-parent households continually experience the highest rates of deprivation. Almost 56% of individuals from such households have experienced some form of deprivation.

We have a lot of discrimination and poverty in this country. As my colleague Deputy Joan Collins mentioned earlier, the Government ran away from a wealth tax. It was given an opportunity to impose a 0.5% wealth tax which would have brought in €250 million. However, it is not trendy in the media or in the Cabinet to tax the wealthy because they are well protected themselves. That is the real agenda which we must speak out about in this regard to this Bill.

The decision to cut the jobseeker's allowance payment for young unemployed people without children aged 22 to 24 to €100 per week - and to €144 per week for those aged 25 - will inevitably cause hardship. In particular, it will cause hardship for young unemployed people in vulnerable families and communities. The Government must ensure that every young unemployed person receives a comprehensive employment and entitlement service. The decision to cut the rate for those aged 25 is particularly harsh as measures designed under the proposed youth guarantee scheme will not apply to them as they fall outside its scope.

The Government has attacked elderly, young and disabled people, which is disgraceful. Sadly, the telephone allowance has also been cut. We have a major problem in this society.

We have a major problem with this Government. This Bill should be about the social protection of our people and the welfare of our citizens. Sadly, it is not. It is an attack on the young, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Shame, shame, shame. I urge rejection of this Bill.

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