Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am standing in for my colleague, Deputy Willie O'Dea, in responding to the Minister for Social Protection.

It would be remiss of me not to express dismay at the way in which the debate is being held. I acknowledge that the programme of Dáil reform proposed to provide an annual opportunity for Government and Opposition Deputies to discuss priorities for the ensuing year, but we find ourselves discussing Government priorities that have not been published or made available to us. Ministers are making substantive contributions to set out their stall, but the timing of the debate means that the Opposition's response is unnecessarily fractured. We do not have opportunities to respond in the manner proper democracy would require. I have the sense that I am participating in an extension of the Fine Gael Ard Fheis that took place at the weekend, with the Labour Party, to give Fine Gael Members a clap on the back.

Deputy Willie O'Dea and I have considerable respect for the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton. She has been a reforming Minister, as have many of her predecessors. Given that she is in charge of one of the highest spending Departments, she faces an enormous task and is to be commended on her efforts in this regard. However, the purpose of these statements is to review the Government's commitments in the programme for Government and consider priorities for the year ahead. The programme for Government stated unambiguously that the Government would maintain social welfare rates. The Minister must accept that she has failed to live up to this commitment.

Since the Government came to power, core social welfare rates have been cut hard. Jobseeker's allowance was cut for younger citizens; child benefit was cut for certain children; the elderly have had their fuel, electricity and television allowances pared back; and the telephone allowance has been abolished completely. The policy decisions taken by the Minister have resulted in a significant reduction in social supports for the elderly and young people, in particular. Fine Gael and the Labour Party have been spinning the line that older people have not been affected by the cuts and tax increases in recent budgets and that they could take more of a hit in coming budgets as a result. This is totally untrue and does not reflect the facts. Budget 2014 targeted older people on an unprecedented scale, with the abolition of the bereavement grant, the shameless grabbing of 30,000 medical cards, the increase in prescription charges and the abolition of the telephone allowance. These cuts have a direct and lasting impact on the most vulnerable and, in particular, the elderly. The measures will put the final nail in the Taoiseach's goal of making Ireland the best small country in the world in which to grow old. In 2012 the Government cut over 1 million home care hours for the elderly, shut down the mobility allowance, cut the respite care grant by 20% and reduced the period of the fuel allowance from 32 weeks to 26, all of which directly impacted on older people. The security and welfare of older people were also compromised through the short-sighted abolition of the telephone allowance which affected over 394,671 people, including the old, the disabled and carers. Almost 30,000 carers relied on this allowance, while more than 56,000 disabled people also received it. Its abolition was a mean and dangerous step. As the allowance was often treated as regular income by older people, essentially, it meant a cut of €9.50 to their pension every month. This was disproportionate and unfair and it threatens the security and welfare of older people.

Young people have also been affected in a significant way by the Government's policies. Nowhere has the Government's policy of spin over substance been clearer than in the area of youth unemployment which remains unacceptably high in Ireland. The latest EUROSTAT figures show that over 26% of the under 25s in Ireland are unemployed. This equates to approximately 54,000 young people who are unable to obtain work and thus secure a future in this country. Thousands of young people have decided that they are better off abroad, which is a national tragedy, as young people want to work. The moratorium on public sector recruitment, with fewer opportunities in the private sector, makes it extremely difficult for young people to attain decent work with decent pay. The Department of Social Protection has admitted that it will be unable to provide training or employment for over half of those aged under 25 years and on the live register. Government inaction in this area has been the focus of criticism by the OECD and the European Commission which claim that Ireland risks the emergence of a lost generation. I implore the Minister to prevent this from happening.

In addition to this, we see, in the case of applicants for social welfare benefits, inordinate delays in the processing of all applications and insupportable delays in the processing of appeals against decisions of the Department. Despite the good intentions of the Minister, at the end of a three year period in government we have reached a point where this is a far more unequal society than it was when she took over, one in which the rich are getting richer and the poor are most definitely getting poorer.

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