Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 15, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following:"21. The Minister shall, within 4 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas, reviewing all expenditure reductions or the ceasing of payments in relation to the household benefits package, including the gas allowance, electricity allowance, telephone allowance since 2011, and setting out the options for restoring those payments to their previous levels.".

I did not press this amendment on Committee Stage for reasons I will explain presently. The House is well aware of the privations suffered by people during the years of austerity.

We have had the removal of the free telephone rental allowance, the emasculation of household benefit schemes, the drastic reduction in treatment benefits, the abolition of the bereavement grant, the reduction in fuel allowance, as well as the slashing of home help hours, which had a particular impact on the elderly. Even the increase in VAT from 21% to 23% on essentials has had a disproportionate effect on the elderly. On top of these cuts, people have been forced to pay a raft of new charges, with no account taken of ability to pay, such as water tax and property tax. Home adaptation grants have been drastically reduced, which, again, has had a disproportionate effect on the elderly.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection has said on several occasions that she regards some of the cuts as temporary at least and intends, as soon as resources permit, to reverse them. I am not asking the Government to reverse any of the particular cuts today. However, it has four months to prepare a report outlining what priorities we should have, if we are in a position financially and economically to reverse some of the cuts. It could, for example, outline how much a 20% restoration of treatment benefits would cost. How much would an extension of the fuel allowance period from 26 weeks to 32 cost? This would then allow the Government to know where it was going in the forthcoming budget and prioritise certain measures. If it had the resources, it would be a good guide for it as to where to allocate them. The report should also encompass the effects of the poverty and deprivation suffered by people as a result of thee cuts. This would act as a catalyst for the Government which could have immediate reference to it. It would ensure social expenditure was provided for in a more coherent manner and the Government could have a specific programme laid out.

The reason I did not press a similar amendment on Committee Stage was it wanted the Government to compile the report in one month. I have been more generous today and changed the amendment to require the Government to prepare the report in four months. That would give it plenty of time. If it accepts the amendment, the report will not be due legally until after the general election. The Minister of State should be bear in mind that, if for some inexplicable and extraordinary reason the Government is not returned to office, it will be the first item on the agenda of his successors.

This is a reasonable proposal. For the purposes of debate, I will take the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection at her word that it is her intention, if she is still the Minister for Social Protection or a member of the next Government, to begin the process of reversing the cuts. The amendment has simply been designed to assist the Government. If it is its intention to reverse the cuts, it would have a blueprint and reference point for the forthcoming budget. The next Minister for Social Protection could then talk to his or her counterpart in the Department of Finance about it. It is a perfectly reasonable amendment and I urge the Minister of State to accept it.

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