Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on Second Stage on the Social Welfare Bill 2016, which will bring about the measures announced in the recent budget. In general, the Bill provides for modest increases across all social welfare payments as well as measures targeted at particular groups. It provides for a €5 increase in weekly benefits, ensuring that people of working age as well as retired people aged 66 years or older see an improvement in their weekly incomes. As a result of this and last year's budgetary increases, pension payments next year will be €8 per week higher than in 2009.

I welcome confirmation by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, of his intention to make increases in future budgets at a rate greater than inflation. I compliment him on his efforts at Cabinet level in his budgetary negotiations, which ensured that no one was left behind by the increases. It must be noted that the recipients of the payments in question, such as widows, the sick, the disabled and carers, have not received increases in their payments since cuts were introduced in 2010 and 2011. Therefore, I welcome the increases.

I welcome the self-employed aspect of the Bill. That sector consists of 380,000 people and is important for the economy. To date, the social insurance system enabled only the self-employed to qualify for the contributory State pension. The Bill provides that, from March 2017, they will be entitled to access dental, optical and hearing benefits that are currently only available to employees under the treatment benefit scheme. With effect from December 2017, it will also enable them to qualify for invalidity pensions for the first time. This measure will ensure that, where a self-employed person is no longer in a position to continue working because of long-term ill health, he or she will have access to a safety net of State supports without a means test that would count the person's savings and assets or his or her partner's income against him or her. I welcome this progressive change and look forward to future budgetary reforms of the self-employed's access to social welfare supports.

Another aspect of the Bill that I welcome is the reversal of the cuts to farm assist. At a time when farm incomes have been falling, it is important that safety net supports such as farm assist be available to the farming community. I also welcome the provision of an additional 500 places on the rural social scheme.

I welcome the income disregard for the one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment, which will increase from €90 to €110 per week. In recent weeks, the Joint Committee on Social Protection has held meetings regarding lone parents. A number of anomalies were highlighted by advocacy groups, for example, the need for greater flexibility in the 19-hour criteria that is applicable for family income supplement, FIS. With this flexibility, more lone parents could take up work. While the income disregard was welcome, it was pointed out that there was no corresponding increase for FIS recipients. The advocacy groups told our committee that, although the reforms had been intended to encourage lone parents to leave social welfare for in-work payments, many parents who had transferred to FIS would have been better off transferring to the jobseeker's transitional payment. I ask that the Minister and his Department examine these issues in the context of the Bill and to afford lone parents the chance to return to the workforce.

In overall terms, the Bill provides modest increases in weekly social welfare payments. It is important that the recovery that has started be shared. The Bill is a start in that process. I support the Bill and look forward to its passage through the House.

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