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

That is correct. I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity of speaking to this new Bill, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014. I welcome the debate on this legislation as we all need to be solid on the core principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in activity in a self-employed capacity.

Before I go into the details of the legislation, it is important to remind those listening, particularly Members of this House, that when discussing pensions and social welfare issues, there are many out there for whom these are very important matters in their daily lives and in them simply surviving. In this day and age, that is the reality for many living in poverty. Social welfare can be simply a matter of putting food on the table, particularly following years of austerity. Those who are flippant about it and those in the Government and on the extreme right in this country who constantly demand cuts to social welfare need to wake up to that reality. Recently, when knocking on the doors, they got a wake-up call from the people. They all thought they were so smug until they got the answers on the doors. In this debate on legislative reform, we should never forget those who must survive every day on social welfare, particularly senior citizens living on pensions. Those on social welfare, whether they are low paid workers or the unemployed, all have to be protected. That is the bottom line.

I talk about low paid workers and the unemployed, but yesterday we heard the case of workers who are not getting any pay at all. Of course, I refer to day 14 of the sit-in of the Paris Bakery workers. They called yesterday at Leinster House, protesting about the way they are being treated. Twenty of the Paris Bakery workers held a rally with supporters outside Leinster House and I joined them. We all called on the Taoiseach to intervene urgently in their worsening situation. The workers were entering their 13th day of their Moore Street sit-in and are owed more than €100,000 in wages, holiday pay and redundancy pay. That is a scandal in 2014.

Ms Anissa Hosany, a chef with the bakery for over three and a half years, said:

The reason we began this sit-in was to get the money we are owed and make sure no more assets were removed by the owners. We feel like we are doing the job of the Revenue Commissioners, minding the assets of the company.

Mr. Eduard Claihnet, another Paris Bakery worker, said:

We are asking the Taoiseach to tell us how long the Government expects us to act on their behalf without stepping in. I want to go home, I want to sleep in my bed and not have the stress of this hanging over me.

Mr. Claihnet continued:

We want [the owners] to either pay us the wages we earned or agree in writing to wind up the company properly so we can access the insolvency fund. It is that simple.

The Paris Bakery workers are also calling on the Taoiseach to change the law immediately, and I would ask the Minister, Deputy Burton, to get involved. This should not happen to any worker. The insolvency payment scheme should be immediately accessible to all workers to protect them in cases where employers cease trading without formally winding up the business. That is what is going on in this country today and it is not acceptable. I am glad to say that many Members of the Oireachtas attended the protest on this issue yesterday.

In the Bill, we are talking about equality. I heard the Minister discuss in a recent interview the extremes that are popping up around Europe. My concern is the extreme right and the racism that is emerging right across Europe. Even up the road in Belfast in the North, we have seen in recent days the racism that is going on as well. We also have an added problem of sectarianism. It is important, regardless of political differences, that all Members of the House speak out on this issue. It is linked. If the Minister is serious about equality in society and in the Bill, she has to be serious about equality right across all sectors of society.

The Bill proposes a number of changes to a range of social welfare payments and requirements, including changes to the habitual residence condition and to the family income supplement. It seeks to transpose certain aspects of Directive 2010/41/EU. It also proposes amendments to the Pensions Act 1990 in respect of notifying members of defined benefit schemes where scheme benefits are being restructured under section 50 of the 1990 Act. That, essentially, is what the Bill is about. It is important that we get the detail of it right.

Another issue in dealing with this Bill on social welfare is the silent cuts over recent years to front-line services for those with disabilities. In that time, they have taken cuts of between 3% and 5%, but because of the rows about the salaries of the CEOs in Rehab and the CRC, the focus has been taken off the cuts to the front-line services. It is important that we highlight this issue in the debate as well.

In social welfare, we talk about protecting senior citizens and the vulnerable, including children. Two recent examples in my constituency have really got up my nose and I would ask the Minister to intervene urgently. The Jigsaw child care centre in Darndale, which is an excellent centre for preschool children, has 260 preschool children and 99 staff. They all come from the Darndale-Moatview area in Dublin 17.

They do an excellent job and I have been there to see the provision of front-line services. However, they are currently short €200,000 to keep the project up and running. We have asked the Taoiseach and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to intervene but everybody is sitting on the fence. If the Minister is serious about children's rights and social welfare, this particular project deserves support.

We saw recently that €2 million was found overnight to have an inquiry into the Guerin report, the former Garda Commissioner and issues like that. In addition, €800,000 has been found to refurbish the Fine Gael headquarters, yet we cannot get €200,000 for an excellent service for children in Darndale, which employs 99 people. I have raised this hypocrisy because if one is changing society, one must start with these things. They might be small matters compared with the billions in bank debt both here and elsewhere in Europe, but €200,000 should be given now for that excellent service in Darndale.

While the Minister is at it, she might also look at Darndale Park where there is a proposal for 14 jobs to clean it up and turn it into an excellent community park. Yesterday, however, I believe the Department of Social Protection turned down that proposal from the local residents' group.

The directive is concerned with the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in a self-employed capacity. Currently in Ireland, certain people who assist their self-employed spouse or partner in a business but who are not a business partner or employee are excluded from social insurance cover. The Bill provides for their inclusion subject to certain entitlement conditions. I welcome this aspect of the legislation.

Another section deals with family income supplement, FIS. Some 44,000 households are in receipt of FIS, while 98,679 children are included in the scheme. The average weekly FIS payment is €114.45.

I welcome the broader debate on this legislation but there is no point in talking about social welfare unless we do something for the weaker sections of society.

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