Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Social Welfare Bill 2014 gives effect to a number of significant social protection measures and improvements. First, there is an increase in the monthly rate of child benefit, which I welcome. Ireland as a nation is now coming out of the serious economic crisis it faced in recent years. While things are still tough the Government is able to give back some of what has been lost. Part of that is the restoration of child benefit, bringing the current rate from €130 to €135 per month, with effect from 1 January 2015. In the case of twins, the monthly rate of child benefit will increase from €195 per child to €202.50 per child. In the case of three children or more, the monthly rate of child benefit will increase from €260 per child to €270 per child per month with effect from 1 January 2015.

In addition to the measures on the monthly rate of child benefit provided in the Bill, budget 2015 also announced the introduction of a new back to work family dividend to provide an additional incentive for families to move from welfare to work. The details of the measure are being developed and the required legislation is expected to be introduced by the end of March in order that the back to work family dividend can commence in April 2015.

Further measures are provided for in the budget. One of them is the increase in the living alone allowance, effective from January 2015 and the payment of a Christmas bonus of 25% to certain social welfare recipients in early December 2014. That can be introduced by way of regulation by the Minister for Social Protection in advance of the dates.

Other social protection measures announced in budget 2015 relate to non-statutory schemes and do not require any legislative amendments. They are the new water subsidy of €100 per annum for all recipients of the household benefits package and recipients of the fuel allowance who do not already receive the household benefits package and the doubling of the number of employees supported by JobsPlus from 3,000 to 6,000.

Additional funding of €12 million is also provided in 2015 for the introduction of a new employment service known as JobPath, and additional annual funding of €2 million for the school meals programme.

Another element of social protection provisions in 2015 is the introduction of an amendment to the Bill which will retain the weekly earnings disregard for working lone parents who are in receipt of one-parent family payment at its current level of €90. Under the one-parent family payment scheme the first €90 of a person’s weekly gross income is disregarded. That means a person can earn up to €90 per week and qualify for a full one-parent family payment. The amount was intended to fall to €75 per week next year and to €60 per week in 2016 but that will not happen because the country is doing much better economically and such cuts are no longer needed. That is a further example that we are, thankfully, coming to the end of austerity. Some 28,000 working lone parents who currently get a one-parent family payment from the Department of Social Protection will benefit from the measure in 2015 at a cost of €8 million per annum.

Budget 2015 has also recognised the role older people have played in the recovery of the economy. Christmas can be a time of financial strain for many families and budget 2015 has secured a Christmas bonus payment of 25% for all people on long-term social welfare payments, including pensioners. The payment will benefit more than 1.16 million people.

Under budget 2015, the living alone allowance will increase by €1.30 per week, bringing the rate from €7.70 to €9 per week. That is the first increase in the payment since 1996 and will benefit more than 170,000 people. That, again, is an indication that we are moving out of the era of austerity.

I welcome in particular the 0.6% pension levy which was introduced to help fund the jobs initiative. It played an important role in the positive jobs trend, with 72,000 new jobs created since the peak of the crisis in 2012. The 0.6% pension levy will end in 2014 and the additional 0.15% pension levy will expire at the end of 2015.

The economy is doing better but we are still not out of the woods. There is a definite and tangible improvement in the finances of the State and it is only right that the upturn is reflected in how people are supported by the provision of social protection. That means we are stopping the planned cuts previously envisaged and increasing payments where possible. It also means restoring some of the cuts previously made. That is a process which will continue. I commend the Bill to the House.

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