Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom an ardú de €5 sa liúntas leanaí a chur i gcomhthéacs. Is é seo an t-aon rud amháin atá á dhéanamh sa Bhille seo. Is trua nár thapaigh an tAire an deis déileáil leis na ciorruithe eile a chur sí i bhfeidhm go dtí seo, nó fiú roinnt de na ciorruithe a chur an Rialtas roimhe seo i bhfeidhm. Ní hamháin gur ndearnadh gearradh siar ar an liúntas leanaí in ainneoin an gealltanais a tugadh don phobal i gcoitinne, ach déanadh a lán gearrtha eile freisin. Cuireadh an ualach sin ina iomlán ar na clanna atá ag brath ar an gcóras leasa shóisialaigh agus orthu siúd timpeall na tíre atá ar phá íseal. Cé go bhfuil mé i bhfábhar cuid den mhéid atá sa Bhille seo - measaim go mbeadh sé deacair d'éinne cur i gcoinne ardú de €5 sa mhí a chabhróidh leo siúd inár sochaí atá ar an ngannchuid agus atá bocht - ní leor é. D'fhéadfadh an Rialtas seo dul i bhfad níos faide ná mar atá leagtha síos sa Bhille seo. Is é sin scannal an Bhille seo. Tá sé deacair tacaíocht a thabhairt don reachtaíocht seo toisc nár thapaidh an Rialtas an deis a bhí acu.

As I said as Gaeilge, I want to put the €5 child benefit increase in context. I will not rehash all of the promises made by the Labour Party before the last general election - there is no need to, as the public do not have selective amnesia. The public know what was promised and in recent elections they have shown the Labour Party what they think of those pre-election promises. The Labour Party promised to protect child benefit and made it a red-line issue; its posters stated "Every little hurts". The public will show the Labour Party what they think of those promises, because this Government is trying to spin the €5 increase as a "one for every child in the audience" giveaway for struggling families. The public are supposed to be bowled over with gratitude for crumbs from the table of the rich, but they are not that stupid. I respect the public and can see that the people are not stupid because they have shown this in elections in the past year. They can see through the lies of the last general election. The public know that the Government has targeted children relentlessly with cuts, and the consequence is that one third of children in the State experience deprivation.

The last Government cut child benefit, but not in the extreme manner of this Government - it also cut other social welfare payments. This Government has cut child benefit by between €10 and €47 per child per month. These cuts are in addition to the €100 cut to the annual back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance for poor families. Maternity benefit has been cut by €32 per week and the lone parent income disregard was cut from €146.50 to €90. Working lone mothers and fathers are down €28 per week as a consequence. During the intervening years the cost of living has risen, further eroding the value of the total child benefit payment. In this context, struggling, intelligent Irish voters will assess the value of the measure contained in this Bill.

The Tánaiste has indicated that water charges may be capped for a period - she was in the House earlier but, strangely, she has disappeared for this debate. She may have had other engagements, but that is the case for all of us. It is odd that the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Tom Hayes, is here instead, but perhaps he can use his influence to make cheap wood from the forests under his remit available to the people suffering from cuts to the fuel allowance. A total of €120 per year has been cut from the fuel allowance, which many people depend on, yet the Government trumpets the extra €60 per year that children will receive. Perhaps the Minister of State will use his position to help these people grow food; he might provide some land for this purpose by using his responsibility for areas such as horticulture and food safety.

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