Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this legislation. The word "poverty" is often trotted out and used as a cliché to describe all sorts of situations. Poverty is a serious issue. When talking about what is poverty and what is not poverty, we must be sober-minded and straight and ensure we address it in a fair manner, so as not to depress people.

Reference has been made many times to poverty, money, budgets, social welfare payments and so on. Poverty will not be eradicated through the provision of additional money alone. That is for sure. We all know that taking two families in similar circumstances in receipt of the same social welfare income, one family will manage and the other will not. How to take people out of poverty is a complex issue. As I said, money is not the only answer in this regard. There are many people coping, although that is not to suggest that is an attractive life. If we are to tackle poverty in a meaningful way, we need to look not only at social welfare payments but at services, supports and so on.

We all know - I am sure this has been alluded to here previously on many occasions - that for many low income households taking up employment is a deterrent because if they do so, they will lose incidental benefits such as a medical card and so on. I am sure everybody welcomes all of the inroads that have been made in terms of the reduction in the rate at which people pay the universal social charge, USC, and a reduction in the rate at which people start to pay tax. I particularly welcome the new emphasis on child care and the reality in this regard for young couples in terms of fees while at the same time repaying large mortgages. Many of these couples are financially strapped despite the fact they are working. As a modern society, in which there is no nuclear family to rely on, we need to develop our child care system more. I do not think anybody disagrees with that. I welcome the interdepartmental report that issued in this regard and would like to see it implemented. I also welcome the child care provisions announced in the budget.

Many people have sneezed at the increase in the pension and the fuel allowance and at the partial restoration of the Christmas bonus. I do not think those people realise what an increase in payment as opposed to a decrease in payment means to people. It means a lot. It behoves us to do the best we can for older people. I hope that at some stage we will be able to assist them further by way of reintroduction of the telephone allowance, which meant a lot to many people. Things are moving in the right direction. There are many people who want to talk others into depression, from which they appear to get some political gain. The increases provided for in the budget mean real money that will benefit people and it is very welcome.

I also welcome the increase in the national minimum wage, the family income supplement and the back to work family dividend. Under the Action Plan for Jobs employment has also increased. Some 126,000 new jobs have been created. That is positive news for people and there is more of that to come. If we stick to the steady path we are on, employment will continue to increase. Everybody knows there is no magic wand that will fix our problems. We have endured a lot. Being a member of the Opposition has been the easiest job in the world during the past few years, although I am not sure it did a great job of it. Much of what the Opposition had to say during that time was pure populism. However, that is perhaps the nature of politics.

I welcome this legislation and compliment the Minister, Deputy Burton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, on their achievements in what is a tough portfolio. It has also not been an easy time for the people working in the area of social welfare. I welcome the emphasis on trying to support people into employment. As more jobs are created, I would like to see people with disabilities being supported more in getting back into employment. We are increasingly becoming a more inclusive society.

There are two particular issues in the area of social welfare that I believe need to be addressed, including the discontinuation of child benefit in respect of children who reach the age of 18 years while still attending secondary school.

Cuts have been made throughout the system in recent years and we all know the reason for that. Let us consider the rationale for this cut. If one has a child in secondary school, that child still needs to be supported and maintained, particularly if the family is on social welfare and suddenly finds it has to cope with this significant cut in its income. If the child is not in school, he or she would be entitled to jobseeker's allowance of €100 per week, or he or she could be going to college. Quite a number of people are affected by this cut. In the interests of fairness, if a child continues in secondary education, the parents should be entitled to some form of child benefit until the child reaches the age 19 or 20, in recognition of the need to support the child and having regard to the additional funds that are provided through child benefit, which support families. I would like the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, to examine this measure. There is no logic to this cut given that if the child left school and could not get work, he or she would get jobseekers's allowance or if he or she was to go to college, he or she could get a higher education grant. If children stay in secondary school, they still have to be maintained and looked after by their families.

The second issue I wish to raise relates to JobBridge. A woman raised this issue with me in my constituency clinic this week. Aside from participants in the scheme gaining meaningful experience, a traineeship and progressing towards work - I am aware that much has been done to tackle any abuses in the system - there has been progression from the scheme, which I welcome. Some people clearly have benefited from participating in JobBridge; they got a break and the crucial experience they needed. My concern is that the approach to the way JobBridge is being rolled out is that one size fits all. The woman who called to my clinic is a lone parent with two children. She has a degree and is anxious to get experience in a certain type of work. She has been offered an internship but if she takes it up, she will not get the back to work family dividend nor will she get any family income supplement or a stamp. She is trying to improve her circumstances even though she could have decided to rely entirely on the State. There is no public transport in my constituency and this woman will have to travel to get work experience and will have to put €50 worth of diesel in her car every week. That is a cost of €50 a week on top of everything. She will have to find a childminder. She an awful lot on her plate as a single parent. I could not tell her I thought this was a fair situation, that is, that she is not being supported in her efforts. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, in particular, has been vocal on the issue of supporting women - who, in the main, tend to be lone parents - back into the workplace but taking up an internship could put them into poverty. They are not in the same position as a young person who is living at home and may still have the support of his or her parents and be gaining that benefit. There must be a reality check about lone parents, particularly lone mothers in that type of situation where they are trying to improving their circumstances.

I have no doubt the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Burton, will seriously examine these issues which are impacting on people's lives in a real way. These people are trying to improve themselves and the circumstances of their families and to create a better future for their children. I would like to think we are always moving towards a point where we are trying to address shortcomings in the system, although I know there always will be shortcomings and more will be revealed.

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