Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Weekly personal rates of payment for all those aged 66 years and over were increased by €3 per week with proportionate increases on qualified adult and reduced rates. In addition, all of those eligible for the fuel allowance, including jobseekers and people with disabilities, gained from the increase of €2.50 per week, from €20 to €22.50 per week over the fuel season. Funding for the free travel scheme, which benefits a large number of people with disabilities, carers and pensioners, was increased by €3 million from €77 million to €80 million, to meet increased numbers eligible for the scheme, access new services and therefore fully protect entitlements under the scheme. I intend for this to continue. Families with children benefitted from a €5 increase in the monthly rate of child benefit while lower-income working families also benefitted from increases in the family income supplement thresholds. The respite care grant was renamed the carer's support grant to better reflect the usage of the grant and was fully restored to its previous maximum level by increasing it by €325 from €1,375 to €1,700 per annum.

I will briefly discuss the area of fraud and control. It is essential that we maintain public confidence in the welfare system by vigorously tackling fraudulent activity. My Department implements a range of measures to prevent and detect fraud and also ensures that effective debt recovery and deterrence measures are in place. Data exchanges between the Department and other State bodies, including the Revenue Commissioners, are being enhanced on an ongoing basis. The Department is now acting on information received through these links in a timelier manner. For example, commencement of employment information from the Revenue Commissioners is now received weekly and acted on automatically and prisoner data are exchanged weekly. Predictive analytic projects on jobseeker, disability and one-parent family payment controls should result in better targeting of cases for review. Some 1.1 million reviews were carried out in 2015, achieving €463 million in savings, which was 91% of the Department's target. The target for control savings in 2016 remains unchanged at €510 million.

Looking ahead, the programme for Government contains a number of commitments relating to social protection, such as increasing pensions and the living alone allowance, protecting free travel for pensioners and people with disabilities and supporting a rate increase for people with disabilities and for carers. We intend to reinforce the contributory principle of social insurance by strengthening the social insurance system. I intend to extend the treatments available under the treatment benefit scheme, which was significantly cut back during the austerity years. Importantly, I will extend the level of social insurance coverage available to the self-employed, in line with the agreement with Fianna Fáil as well as the programme for Government. This will form part of the Government's new deal for the self-employed which will encompass tax as well as welfare changes.

I am delighted that the paternity leave and paternity benefit legislation is before the Dáil this week. It will be introduced by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, on Friday next. I am sure Deputies from all sides of the House will welcome this innovation and, once enacted, my Department can commence the payment of paternity benefit from September to social insurance contributors, including the self-employed.

This concludes my overview of the main areas of expenditure and associated activity for my Department for 2016. I look forward to hearing Members' views in the debate and responding to their questions in so far as possible.

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