Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Bríd Smith.

Although I recognise the €5 increase in social welfare payments as a step in the right direction, I do not think any attempt was made in the budget to unwind some of the harsh effects of recent budgets. Some sectors of society have been failed in the social welfare system and not been protected, as they should have been. The examples I will give of the people who are discriminated against the most are of those who did not cause the crisis or benefit from the so-called boom, yet they are the ones who felt the harsh brunt of austerity and are living in poverty. I will list some figures and discuss in further detail the two groups which have been discriminated against the most. They are young people and one-parent families. In 2009 jobseeker's allowance was €204.30. In 2017 it will be €193 for those aged over 26 years, €102.70 for those aged between 18 and 24 and €147.80 for those aged between 25 and 26. The minimum loss for a jobseeker is €11, but for those under the age of 25 years, the loss of income is significant. If someone is aged 25 years, the loss is €56.50, but if they are under 24, it is €101.60. This mirrors the discrimination for newly qualified teachers or nurses in terms of pay equality. What we are saying is if that someone finds himself or herself unemployed, he or she will be discriminated against in rates of social welfare payments payable and that if he or she starts a job in the public sector, he or she will face pay inequality.

Unfortunately, the country does not just discriminate only against young people. Lone parents and their children have shamefully been let down by the Government. We cannot tackle the level of child poverty if we do not address the cuts inflicted on one-parent families. The rates of child poverty among children living in households headed by one parent are a national disgrace and it is important to look at them. The rate of consistent poverty among children in Ireland is 11.2%. When we look at this headline rate in detail, we see that the poverty rate among children headed by a lone parent is 22.1%, while in a two-parent household with fewer than four children, it is 7.9%. If we are to make any attempt to tackle the level of child poverty, we must address the poverty traps and barriers faced by lone parents, but nothing was done in the budget. When we look at the cuts inflicted on lone parents, it is clear that no other sector of society was hit as hard. Much has been said about equality proofing, but it was always known that the level of poverty among lone parent families was significantly higher than in the rest of society. What the previous Government, of which the Minister was a member, did and the Government continues to do is politically proof rather than equality proof budgets. By this, I mean that it decides what it can cut that may not prove damaging politically to it. Lone parents were an easy target because the Government could falsely stereotype and stigmatise them under the guise of labour activation measures. There was no discussion of the fact that at the time 60% of lone parents in receipt of the one-parent family payment were in receipt of a reduced payment as they were in part-time employment or participating in a community employment scheme. There was also no discussion of the barriers, particularly when it came to child care and other supports needed, faced by them. The Government portrayed them as a group that needed to be activated.

In looking at what has happened to lone parents it is important to list the cuts made. In 2009 the one-parent family payment was €204.30. In 2017 it will be €193. The qualifying age of children was reduced from 18 years to seven. In 2009 the child benefit payment for one child was €166. In 2017 it will be €140. The back to school allowance payable for a child in primary school was cut from €200 to €100, while the allowance payable for a child in secondary school was cut from €305 to €200. These are just the headline figures. The worst measure inflicted on lone parents involved the changes made to payments and entitlements. Contrary to the mantra that lone parents needed to be activated, it was those already working who suffered a financial loss. The Minister's claim that 3,000 lone parents are better off because of the changes is false and misleading. If any lone parent was to increase his or her working hours, of course, his or her income would go up, but what the Minister has failed to address is the fact that if he or she had increased his or her working hours prior to July 2015, the financial gain would have been bigger.

The Minister also fails to acknowledge the thousands who had a huge reduction in income, and that those already working 19 hours on FIS suffered a loss despite the increase in this budget of the income disregard to €110. This is €37.50 below what it was prior to the cuts. It is important to note that the €147.50 it was prior to the cuts had been the same rate since 1997 when it was introduced. There was never a gravy train for lone parents but a series of failed policies and rather than address them the previous Government, of which the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, was a member, cut them further and brought in policy changes restricting their access to third level education and giving a financial loss to working parents. I see nothing in this budget that restores any loss to these parents.

Prior to the budget the Minister was made aware of problems with maintenance payments. The transition from the one-parent family payment to job seeker's transition payment did not take into consideration the "liable relative" legislation. The Department wrote out to thousands of liable relatives to tell them that they had no further obligation to the Department to pay. Despite this having been brought to the Minister's attention through a petition from lone parents, he has not dealt with it. Indeed, his response was insensitive to any woman who escaped domestic violence, saying they must prove their abuse. Local Intreo offices are informing parents if they do not seek maintenance their payment will be cut.

It has also been brought to the Minister's attention that deducting 100% of maintenance payments from rent allowance was causing great difficulties for many parents, especially for those where the maintenance is not being paid, or not paid on time from ex-partners.

The Minister, like previous Ministers for Social Protection, went for headline changes. If he was really interested in tackling inequality for our youth or child poverty among lone-parent families, he would have listened to the groups who had been pleading with him to make genuine changes.

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