Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be speaking today. We all know that Fianna Fáil had an input into the budget, but it is not our budget. When we put pressure on the Minister to give a €5 increase to senior citizens, he was quick to come back and cover himself by advocating a €5 increase to all social welfare recipients, including jobseekers, carers and others.

It has to be welcomed but it does not kick in until the second quarter of 2017. It is important to not lose sight of the taxpayer and the PAYE workers. They must be getting very worried as they do not see the benefit of this economic recovery. They see more benefits for others than are being accrued to them. They see themselves funding these social welfare schemes. The Minister of State must note there are still a lot of people who are still depending on schemes such as community employment, JobsPlus and SOLAS. If one looks at the numbers compared to five years ago there are still as many people who depend on these schemes. It is very worrying when the Government speaks about jobs being provided but there are no jobs for the general worker in the area.

I welcome many of the initiatives in the Minister's programme. The farm assist measure has to be welcomed with regard to the means testing. There is still a crisis in the farming community, especially for low income farmers.

I will now turn to the benefits proposed for the self-employed. Anything that is done for people who are self-employed and who lose their work or income must be pushed through more quickly so that they can avail of jobseeker's funding. While we welcome that the invalidity pension has been extended to the self-employed the treatment benefit package is also a major positive measure for the self-employed to the cost of €3.6 million. This scheme sees the introduction of dental care benefits and full restoration of optical benefits, such as free glasses or €42 towards upgraded glasses. This measure is to be welcomed.

With regard to the housing assistance payment, HAP and the increase in this rent allowance scheme for social housing applicants, there are fierce complications in applying for this allowance and it must be reviewed. There is an issue also when applicants feel that their landlord is not doing enough with regard to compliance to keep the property in good order. There is an issue there for grant aid towards upgrading of a property as there are landlords who do not have the money to upgrade their properties and they are being precluded from participating in the HAP scheme. While I welcome the increase in funding I ask that this situation could be reviewed. I believe that everybody was looked after in this budget, there was a piece for everybody and I hope, as we move forward, there will be a better outcome.

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