Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt but that there is a recovery but it is fragile and we must manage it prudently. We will do so fairly such that we can spread the benefits across society. As I will outline, there are those who have benefitted from an increase who have not seen one since 2009 and 2010. That is very important.

This was an absolutely fair and prudent budget. It was a reforming budget considering some of the measures for the self-employed, who take great chances and take on staff. They are drivers of our economy and they need to be remembered. They are remembered in the Social Welfare Bill, which was not always the case. The Bill provides modest increases for all from available resources. It is inclusive and not picking one group over another, as others would have one believe.

The main measures in this Bill include the increases in social welfare payments by €5, which will see a gain for approximately 1.5 million recipients, from carers, the disabled and jobseekers to pensioners, widows, the blind and those on maternity leave. There are 8,000 recipients benefitting under the farm assist scheme. There are measures covering illness benefit, invalidity benefit and lone parents benefits. I will refer to some of these in a little more detail. I welcome the Minister's commitment to increasing the rates above the rate of inflation in future budgets as resources permit. This is a very important element.

The increase of €5 for pensioners was one element. There are other elements that benefit the elderly. There are changes concerning prescription charges, DIRT and the Christmas bonus. There will be an increase of 85%. It is not just the elderly that will benefit from the Christmas bonus measure. The 85% increase will be very welcome among recipients.

Some 840,000 people will gain from the increase of €5 per week. This covers benefits such as the back-to-education allowance, the back-to-work allowance, the enterprise allowance, the pre-retirement allowance and some others. The jobseeker's benefit and allowance, the jobseeker's transition payment, employment support and payments for community employment workers and those on Tús and rural social schemes are also taken into account.

I touched earlier on some of the reforming measures. The self-employed comprise a key element. In the Finance Bill, we saw further improvements involving a move towards equalisation for the self-employed in terms of the increase in the tax allowance. We shall continue to try to have full equalisation between the self-employed and PAYE workers.

There are other benefits. We are extending the dental, optical and hearing PRSI benefits to the self-employed without an increase in the PRSI payment. This is another sign that we want to recognise the role of the self-employed, including the small business owners who employ staff throughout the country and take chances. There is a tax credit increase. Self-employed people will be able to become eligible for the invalidity pension. This covers at least 205,000 workers. This is another key benefit.

I have touched on lone parents. They are to benefit from an increase of €5 per week. The reduction in the income disregard from €110 to €90 will benefit 17,500. I refer also to the €500 cost of the education allowance. The single affordable child care scheme is a key element of that. When we examine these measures, we realise that the lone parent provisions feed into the measures that focus on children. This budget focuses very strongly on children. In this regard, one must consider the child care package and the medical cards for the 11,000 children in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance.

The Bill has an educational element covering school meals. There are some 52,800 additional places. They are not just for DEIS schools. DEIS status is very important for schools that have it but some schools are very close to having missed out that status. I refer to the difference between DEIS bands 1 and 2 and to schools on the fringe of having any DEIS status. Until now, a school with DEIS status gets all the supports while a school without it gets none. The school meals measure of the Social Welfare Bill is very important because it extends beyond DEIS schools. The provision of 35,000 breakfast places for non-DEIS schools is a key component. The increase of €15 per week in the guardian's payment is another element of the focus on children.

With regard to the self-employed, paternity benefit kicked in during September of this year. The treatment benefits I mentioned - the optical, dental and hearing benefits - are to be introduced in March 2017. The invalidity pension element will be in December 2017. This benefits up to 380,000 self-employed individuals. It is long awaited and warranted. This goes back to the core Fine Gael principle of rewarding enterprise, work and risk-taking.

In this past couple of weeks, there was industrial strife and accompanying challenges. Therefore, it is key to bear in mind the budgetary measures and the Social Welfare Bill in this regard. There has been much discussion over the past couple of weeks on industrial relations and the problems and frustrations in the public service. As with all workers in the State, public servants have endured a lot of pain in the past seven or eight years. As we proceed, we want to see the fruits of the recovery benefitting them. We must be very careful and measured, however, given our limited resources. We must ensure that, when sharing out the increases and benefits, we do so in a way that benefits all. We must do so in a very prudent way that does not threaten the fragile recovery.

When we talk about the Lansdowne Road agreement and our very important 300,000 plus public servants, who do a very important job for this country, we note that the conversation in the media over the past couple of weeks would have one believe at times they are the only workers in the country. There are 1.7 million people about whom we may not talk enough. They also get up in the morning, work hard, pay their taxes and face all the challenges faced by workers in the public service.

The Government is trying to bring together all in society on the road to recovery. We have tried to achieve reforms and efficiencies in how we run our country. The public servants who have felt the pressure have had to do more with less because of the moratorium on recruitment and the trimming down of the number of staff in the public service. We are trying to ensure reinvestment in services, including for the people who are vulnerable, those who need it most and everybody who wants to gain access to our health service. Such investment and the budget for the justice service and education system - we want to see an increase in the number of teachers and SNAs, as allowed for in the budget - are key elements of a fair, balanced approach.

An economy is driven by those who work and pay taxes. The Government is about much more than the economy. It is about a whole-society approach. We have measures in the legislation for the vulnerable and those who need to receive supports from the State, but these all need to be paid for. They are paid for by the people who work and pay their taxes.

Most of them have felt a significant burden of taxation in recent years. As we continue to increase the number of people at work through the great measures taken under the Action Plan for Jobs, we want to grow the pot of money in the Exchequer and spread a lessened burden across all taxpayers while retaining enough money to give back something to those who are working and provide extra funding to vital services. This is an important statement of intent by the Government.

I wish to touch on some of the concerns about the under 26s social welfare payments. Deputy Brady of Sinn Féin was present earlier. He and I were in a debate on local radio that got heated the morning after the budget. Sinn Féin struggled to find holes to pick in our budget, but it focused on the under 26s. We gave an increase of €2.70 per week, which was proportionate to the €5 increase for someone in receipt of the full jobseeker's rate.

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