Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 6, line 21, after "income" to insert "in excess of €6,000".

On amendment No. 3, which was ruled out of order, the purpose of the proposal was to compel the House to discuss all proposed changes to the household benefits package. The legislation makes no such provision. Will the Minister indicate on what basis changes are made to the household benefits package? Is it an administrative issue because it is clearly not done on a statutory basis? Can such changes be made at any time or only at budget time?

Amendment No. 3 was ruled out on the basis that it was not relevant to the provisions of the Bill. I have a solution to this problem. The amendment would be relevant and germane to the provisions of the Bill if it was introduced by the Minister as a section in the Bill. I invite her to make such provision, either on Committee Stage or Report Stage in the Seanad. People are entitled to core and ancillary benefits and they can sometimes be as badly affected by reductions in ancillary benefits as cuts in core benefits. For this reason, the House should have a facility to discuss both types of reductions on an equal basis.

On amendments Nos. 4 and 5, the Bill extends PRSI to certain types of income for the first time. If I understood the previous legislation correctly, PRSI will be applied to all incomes in excess of €3,175, a very low level. People can rent out a room of their dwelling under the rent a room scheme. If one were to rent out a caravan or mobile home for only part of the year, the chances are one's income would exceed the new PRSI threshold of €3,175. The figure of €6,000 I propose in amendment No. 4 is, therefore, more realistic.

PRSI is being extended to income which did not attract it in the past. However, those who will pay PRSI under this provision will not receive any benefits from the social insurance system. This is wrong because the basis of the system is that one pays insurance and receives something in return. Interest is already subject to income tax under the DIRT system. This legislation, for the first time, extends PRSI to interest, which will become the only type of income on which PRSI will be applied without a corresponding benefit.

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