Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Social Welfare Bill has been tabled by a Fine Gael-Independent coalition Government. While the budget was not a Fianna Fáil document, my party did not sat on the fence but instead played an active Opposition role and influenced the budget from the outside. After five years of harsh, punitive and regressive budgets under the previous Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, we are finally beginning to see an element of fairness restored in the social welfare system as a result of this Fianna Fáil influence.

While the steps taken in the Bill are small, they are moving in the right direction. The Government is changing the direction in which it and its predecessor were moving and it is being forced to reverse some previous cuts. I understand, for example, that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, acknowledged that this is the first socially just budget in years.

Increasing the pension was a key commitment in the Fianna Fáil Party manifesto. Our aim is to increase the payment by €30 over the five-year term of the Government. This increase has been provided for in the confidence and supply arrangement agreed earlier this year. The increase of €5 in the pension is a small step in the right direction and a positive move.

Despite claims to the contrary, older people were not protected in the five regressive budgets introduced by the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government.

They suffered cuts to secondary benefits such as the electricity and telephone allowances, with increased taxes, including property and other charges such as house insurance, while their incomes were capped.

While the budget is a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done. Of those aged 65 years and over, 10.3% are at risk of poverty, while 14.3% experience deprivation. A source of major concern is the contributory pension as a result of changes in banding introduced by the previous Government in 2012. They introduced age discrimination and an unfair cut for those with reduced pension contributions. Two people with the same reduced number of pension contributions could receive different pension payments if one of them had retired before 2012. Take, for example, the case of two people who had made 28 contributions. The person who retired before 2012 received a pension of €225, whereas the younger person who retired after that year received €196, or over €35 a week less for each week of his or her life. That is a significant difference, despite both of them making the same number of contributions. Many people, especially women, had a reduced number of pension contributions because they were in the home looking after children or caring for a elderly family relative. Owing to the way the banding was changed in 2012, they have seen their pension entitlements significantly reduced.

The home carer allowance only extends back to 1994 and is payable in respect of children under 12 years. This issue needs to be addressed. When I raised it recently with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, he told me he would have to take into consideration the number of winners and losers before any change could be made. Right now everybody is losing and the issue needs to be tackled sooner rather than later.

Another aspect of the pension system that needs to be addressed is the situation of those who are forced to retire at 65 years of age but who cannot receive their pension for a further year. They have to sign on for jobseeker's benefit for the year, which means that they will be on a reduced payment of €188. If that is not bad enough, many of those affected have highlighted to me that they have to claim to be searching for work when they are not. They just want to get on with their retirement. While all of the improvements will not happen in one go, they need to be tackled in the forthcoming year.

The improved Christmas bonus is a positive step, especially at what is an expensive time for families. The at-risk poverty rate in rural areas is 19.1 %, almost five percentage points higher than in urban areas, where the rate stands at 14.6%. Changes to the farm assist scheme introduced by the previous Government in the budgets for 2012 and 2013 saw the figures in the assessment of means from farming raised, while the disregards for children were halved and then discontinued. The Bill rows back to the position before 2012, a move I welcome. Income from farming and off-farm self-employment will now be assessed at a figure of 70%, down from 100%, with an annual disregard of €254 for each of the first two children and €381 for the third and subsequent children. This is a welcome move which will benefit many farm families in north-west Cork.

We need to see further improvements in the provision of social welfare services. Unfortunately, in my area service provision is being restricted. Due to departmental retirements, those accessing social welfare services in Macroom and the wider Lee Valley area have a reduced service, available three days a week in a small office in which one could not swing a cat. These changes in the service could have been foreseen and dealt with for the benefit of people living in the wider Macroom area. The Department of Social Protection has been engaged in a continuous service delivery improvement programme, the aim of which is to provide a high quality and proactive service for customers. "Proactive" means moving first. When the Department knows that personnel are due to retire, it should be able to put in place adequate replacements and provide temporary services for the people of Macroom rather than waiting until the last minute, reacting and leaving people with a service that is not adequate.

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