Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to give my remarks on budget 2017.

During the negotiations leading up to the formation of the minority Government, I emphasised the importance of creating sustainable social and economic growth and greater equality through investing in services, as I believe this is the formula to tackle inequality and to drive the economy more fairly. I hope and believe this budget is better for my contribution to it as the only Independent woman in Cabinet and fairer to our citizens because of the collaborative involvement of the wider Parliament. I proposed a 4:1 ratio between spending and tax cuts back in April and I am happy that we, as a minority Government supported by Fianna Fail in opposition, are moving towards this with a total budget adjustment weighted at 3:1 towards spending.

I agree that the reduction of tax burden on working people, especially among the low- and middle-income earners, and self-employed through the cuts in the USC and improvement in the earned-income tax credit are needed, although the services in areas such a childcare, health and education will make even bigger impact in people's lives. The ground-breaking investment in child-care services which I will come back to later, along with increased spending in education, increases social welfare payments and increased health budget will outweigh the impact of any tax cuts to households on low- and middle-incomes because the enhanced public investment will provide greater potential to build a social economy with more quality jobs and equality.

I welcome a number of progressive measures in this budget that are particularly opportune. I welcome the modest increase in pensions and all working-age social welfare payments including those for lone parents. These changes will not be enough, but I am certain will somewhat help to reduce poverty and income inequality.

I also welcome the increase in income disregard for one-parent families and in the job seeker's transition allowance from €90 to €110. This is something I have campaigned for and I am proud that the minority Government has been able to deliver this in its first budget.

I am particularly pleased with the additional €500 allowance for parents in receipt of back-to-education allowance. The continuing access to higher and further education especially for lone parents has been of particular concern to me. I am pleased to see a measure that will help to make education more accessible for lone parents. The child-care package will also help to assist lone parents to achieve their career and education goals.

As a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I am delighted that 50,000 additional children are to benefit from school meals. Food poverty is one of the saddest manifestations of child poverty. Children suffering from malnutrition as a result of poor diets and having to attend school on empty stomachs is one of the most distressing aspects of child poverty. I will continue to do what I can to combat causes and consequences of child poverty.

I also welcome that the medical cards scheme is to be extended to all children in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance. These children need extra help and it is good that we can make a contribution to this.

Investment in education is good our society and our economy. As an educator, I am passionate about providing all of our people with opportunities which ensure greater equality across geographic regions and socioeconomic backgrounds. For this reason I strongly welcome the increased spending in education which will allow for the recruitment of an additional 2,400 teaching posts, including 900 resource teachers.

I also wish to congratulate the Minister for Finance on his effort to address further cases of misuse of our tax code by certain companies in light of the amendment proposed in the forthcoming finance Bill. However, there is scope for additional changes in this regard.

The reality of being part of the minority Government means that one sometimes has to make sacrifices in order to deliver on other goals. Raising the ceiling of capital acquisition tax is a regressive measure that will benefit very small group of individuals who are already in receipt of a windfall regarding wealth. The relatively high CAT ceiling puts our citizens on an unequal footing when some of them can now inherit such a large amount of wealth without paying any tax on it. However, as I said, I am supporting the budget, which I believe is progressive although I do not agree with this particular regressive measure.

Budget 2017 sets out a radical new approach to child care. I appreciate there has been a lot of information to digest a very short period of time in this regard. There are two new developments. First, we are targeting those on the lowest incomes; let us remember that 220,000 children woke up this morning in poverty or at risk of poverty. Each child aged between six months and 15 years from these low-income families can receive a subsidy of up to €8,000 a year. All households whose net income is below €47,500 can receive a subsidy. People on very low incomes will see their weekly contribution to full-time child-care reducing from €85 a week to about €4 a week. By anyone's standards that is radical. This creates new opportunities for these families in terms of education, training and work. More importantly it gives each child a level playing field on which to start their life's journey. In addition, we have a new universal scheme which is aimed at all children between six months and three year. They will be entitled to a subsidy of 50 cent per hour, meaning that a family with a child using the maximum of 40 hours a week will benefit by €960 a year.

I am encouraged by the response to date. I greatly welcome the public, media and political debate on child care, which is long overdue.

In that regard I certainly value parents and grandparents who do stay home, but people who want to go out to work have to be assisted and their families also deserve a chance to improve their lives. It is worth noting that 96% of eligible children are accessing our existing free preschools. They come from families of all backgrounds and circumstances, including with parents who stay at home. This weeks announcement is just the start and it is in line with years of campaigning and my election commitments. My first actions are aimed at helping those on the lowest incomes, as well as a universal measure to support families from all income backgrounds.

As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs I have specific responsibility for the provision of accessible, high quality and affordable child care for working parents. There is a lot of work to be done and I am looking forward to continuing the journey to transform Irish child care forever. With 30 years involvement in community child care in west Tallaght and as a campaigner I am keenly aware of the challenges in the sector which must be addressed. As I travel around the country meeting people on the ground there are concerns about pay, high staff turnover and the red tape and administration which the sector faces. That is why I have established a National Early Years Forum to listen to and act on the concerns of the people providing this vital service in communities.

We have taken some steps in the budget to assist providers. A total of €14.5 million is being made available. The average provider with 25 children will receive €2,400 a year as recognition for the time they must spend on paperwork and planning. We will continue working with them as the scheme is rolled out in the coming months and years. There is also a very important discussion taking place on the role of childminders. Immediately after the budget I met a number of representative groups, including Childminding Ireland, and we are working to get more childminders registered and for their role to be recognised. We have almost a year to get this right and I encourage every Member of this House, as well as the sector and those who campaign for children's rights, to have their say. As Minister, I value Deputies' inputs.

I am pleased that I secured an increase in €37 million in current funding for Tusla for 2017, which will be added to the capital provision of €13.56 million already provided to the agency for 2017. This will allow Tusla to provide child welfare and protection services to children waiting to be allocated a social worker. At the moment 20,019 children have an allocated social worker. While Tusla has made progress on this, a further 5,050 children are still waiting for an allocated a social worker. I have been assured by Tusla that all urgent cases are dealt with immediately and do not go on a waiting list. Reducing the number, and eventually eliminating the waiting list, is a key priority for me and for Tusla.

There will be a strong focus on adoption legislation in the coming months. The Adoption (Amendment) Bill has passed Second Stage and deliberations will commence on Committee Stage in early November. In addition, the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill will be enacted this year. Funding has been provided for the allocation of additional staff to help with the adoptions of children who will now be eligible for adoption and for an information campaign to ensure that birth parents and adopted persons are aware of the provisions of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. As a Minister of this Government, I recommend this budget to the Oireachtas and I hope it will deliver equality and fairness to the Irish people as that has certainly been its aim for all of us.

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