Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Self-employed sole traders who have paid thousands of euro and, previously, punts in tax who find their work runs out for a while cannot access any social welfare payments for at least 12 months during which there is no money coming in. It is very unfortunate. It is very unfair when one thinks of all the tax they have paid and the people they have, in many instances, employed. If some source with which they were trading goes out of business, they may find themselves in a very vulnerable situation. Sole traders and people who work for themselves take very little out of their companies. They try to improve their companies by building them up and putting more into them, but all of a sudden a market or source of work may deplete with the result that they are left in a very vulnerable position. A couple contacted me recently where the husband's very good line of plumbing work simply ran out for a while. The wife rang me because they were hungry and had no money for food. It appeared they were going to have to sell some of his equipment but if that happened, he would be unemployed forever. He could never put that kit together again. They were tided over for a short while, which is all people want. They want some facility or to qualify for social welfare while things are bad until they get back on their feet again. It is the same where people are sick, which happens as well.

It has been stated that social welfare schemes are to be extended to the self-employed, particularly the extension of eligibility for the invalidity pension. This is long overdue and we campaigned for it for many years. The self-employed do not want to be out sick but over the years many have come to my clinics who were in bad shape and in tears. They were very hurt that they could no longer work due to illness, but they had little or no support. I have seen no mention of extending eligibility for illness benefits to the self-employed and I am curious to know how it will work in reality if they have to have been unable to work for one year to qualify for invalidity pension. What supports will be available to them in the short term and during the one-year qualifying period? I would like to hear more on this. Clarification is required because these people have paid their share and are as entitled as everyone on PAYE to get some assistance when they find themselves in vulnerable situations.

Another issue with social welfare is that in some instances, a few days' work becomes available but it may be difficult to get people to do it. There are people in receipt of social welfare who would like to work for a few days, weeks or months but are afraid to do so because they know it is only short-term and it will be difficult to re-enter the social welfare system. They have families and dependants and cannot take the risk of going to work. Many people think those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or other social welfare payments do not want to work but that is not true. If they were able to work for a short time they would do so but they are afraid they will not be able to re-enter the social welfare system and that their dependants or children would be hungry. Something needs to be done to address this matter.

I mentioned home help and the fair deal scheme to the Taoiseach a number of weeks ago. Elderly people may need home help in the mornings or evenings to get them in and out of bed but service providers are not inclined to provide such hours. Instead, they suggest such people need to be in nursing homes for long-stay care and should not be in receipt of home help at all. There is no problem in providing the fair deal scheme for such people but what I ask is for the Minister for Social Protection to provide the fair deal scheme for people living at home. If the money is in place, it will help the same people, namely, those who want to stay at home but cannot get home help. There should be some discretion as to how the money is spent rather than insisting it can only be given to elderly people who go into nursing homes.

The fair deal scheme is not a fair deal for farming families. In fact, it is a very lousy scheme. If a member of a farming family has to go into a nursing home, the farm and dwelling are both taken into account in the valuation process. Over three years, at a rate of 7.5% per year, that is a total of 22.5% of the total value of a farm. We all know the current situation regarding farming. Beef farmers were never worse off. In the past few weeks, milk farmers have improved their lot a little but some grain and tillage farmers will not be working at all next year because they have taken such a hit. I ask that the dwelling on a farm be the only asset that is assessed to bring farmers in line with every other person who only owns a residence.

The fair deal scheme hurts other sectors of people such as those who live over pubs. The pub provides their income and when the owner of the property has to go into a nursing home, the entire property is taken into account for valuation purposes. The same applies to those who own shops. Many people in rural Ireland live over the shops they own. They are becoming scarce, but they still exist. Publicans and shopkeepers have raised this issue with me recently. They are being very badly hit, to such an extent that they are afraid that if a person who needs attention goes into a nursing home, they will lose their pubs or shops and, as a result, their livelihoods for ever. They are in a serious predicament. The scheme needs to be reviewed to ensure fair play.

Every day, we hear about people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance who have been told they must visit their nearest office and Turas Nua is the organisation dictating the terms. I know of a young man who is 23 years of age who has attended an office one day per week to sign on for the past seven or eight weeks. He is being treated the same way as a person who stabbed someone, is on remand, has been granted bail and has to visit a Garda station two or three times a week to sign on or be seen. The person to whom I referred has been told he will have to appear in the office for 52 weeks.

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