Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. It is also welcome to speak on a Social Welfare Bill which does not contain any cuts but, instead, welcome restorations or partial restorations of important and vital payments. This Bill is a sign of our improving economy and recovery. It does not solve every problem in social protection nor does it contain every restoration or reform. However, it is the first real step back in the right direction. It is prudent and responsible, keeping with the overall budget presented to us several weeks ago. The fact the Opposition does not know whether to criticise it as a giveaway budget, or as a budget which does not do enough, demonstrates in itself the responsible and even approach the Government is taking with our recovery. This is evident in this Social Welfare Bill which provides for the restoration of important payments, such as child benefit and the respite care grant.

During the troika’s time in this country, the Government had to make difficult decisions and tough choices which directly affected ordinary citizens. I remember vividly the budget in which child benefit was reduced. It was a difficult time. Commentators and many Opposition politicians felt the country was moving towards a second bailout with no end in sight. When we, in the Labour Party parliamentary party, made our feelings clear about these reductions at the time, we were told that when the economy improved, we would be able to restore payments. With income and tax receipts ahead of expectation, this budget was the first opportunity to begin to restore payments. I commend the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection for being true to her word and beginning the restoration needed for payments in social protection.

The Christmas bonus being restored to 75% is a real boost to social welfare recipients, as well as to local economies. Many studies have shown over the years that this money is, by and large, reinvested in local towns and villages. When I welcomed the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to Swords last week, we visited the Swords senior citizen centre where there was welcome for the increase in the State pension, the fuel allowance and, in particular, the Christmas bonus. These restorations and increases will make a real difference to pensioners.

In its pre-budget submissions, Fianna Fáil proposed nothing in respect of the Christmas bonus. It also proposed nothing in respect of the fuel allowance but the Labour Party has secured a €2.50 increase per week to this payment, in addition to the living alone increase announced last year. We have not only protected the bus pass, we have increased its funding by €3 million to meet increased demand with no eligibility change to the scheme. Fianna Fáil offered nothing in this area except stoking fears among older people that the bus pass could be cut or revoked. This bitter tactic over the years has done nothing but heap needless extra worry on older people. It certainly was not the action of a responsible Opposition as promised by Fianna Fáil and quickly forgotten as it reverted to pure populism. We are making responsible progress with this recovery. We are seeing a continued decrease in the unemployment rate, now down to 9.3%, or, in real terms, 203,000 people.

This is still not good enough but the trend is clear and confidence is returning. The evidence is there and the recovery is happening. That is beyond argument. We are delivering in government. There is a recognition that this Government has done a good job. The Labour Party continues to play an important role in this Government, fighting and delivering for ordinary people. When things were at their toughest and tough budgets had to be delivered, we kept in. We kept fighting on the promise that once the economy turned and we could afford to do so, payments would be restored. Some did not believe this would happen. Some criticised us for being a party that held a secret desire to implement cuts, that there was some magical alternative to expenditure cuts that we were deciding not to choose. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The Opposition has demonstrated continued lack of direction and competence on budgetary matters. It doubted a recovery was possible and now denies it exists. Our fragile and still delicate recovery cannot be entrusted to the populist charms of Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin. If we are to fully realise a recovery and to ensure further restorations for those most vulnerable, including older people, young families and young workers, and if we are to continue to strengthen workers’ rights, tackle low pay, make key social reforms, broaden free primary care and invest in key transport projects such as metro north, then it is vital that a sensible and progressive left party such as the Labour Party is there to deliver it.

We are restoring this country back to where its people deserve to be. I am proud of the Labour Party’s role in doing so. Listening to Opposition speakers today, and in previous budget contributions, I am both amazed and amused at their capacity to magnify and exaggerate the impact of any cut of any size on those affected but dismiss it as being minuscule and totally insignificant when it is restored.

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