John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are elements of this budget to be welcomed but in reality much of the social protection measures are the reintroduction of old payments that Fine Gael either cut or abolished, announcements of new schemes without any substance as to what they actually are, and name changes. Only Fine Gael could bring about a situation where for the second budget in a row, lone parents will be better off on one-parent family payment or on jobseeker’s transitional payment rather than at work and receiving family income supplement, FIS, now the working family payment. This will not be the case for all lone parents but it will certainly be the case for some. As a result of the jobseeker’s transitional payment and the one-parent family payment income disregards and the other secondary benefits that jobseeker’s transitional payment and one-parent family payment recipients can avail of such as fuel supplement and the Christmas bonus, some lone parents will be better off moving from the working family payment to jobseeker’s transitional payment or the one-parent family payment. This does not fit very well with the Government’s mantra of work over welfare.

In June last year, the then Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, told me in reply to a parliamentary question that the working family payment was one of the most significant commitments in the programme for Government and that considerable work and analysis needed to be done on it. The result of that considerable work and analysis is a name change. We told the Minister at the time that introducing a new scheme to do the exact same thing as family income supplement was pointless, and I am glad the Government has finally come to that conclusion itself. While the working family payment was such a pivotal part of Fine Gael’s general election campaign last year, it is clear it was nothing more than PR and spin. Fine Gael knows all about PR and spin given it is spending €5 million of taxpayers' money to run its own spin unit.

We know from the Indecon report published last week that previous cuts made by Fine Gael and the Labour Party to the one-parent family payment has led to increased poverty among lone parents and their children. We also know that in the past 12 months some lone parents have not been able to afford to heat their homes or buy a warm coat. This budget comes nowhere close to addressing the concerns concluded in the Indecon report. Budget 2018 does nothing to tackle the discrimination faced by young jobseekers on reduced payments, reductions that are unjustified and discriminatory according to Social Justice Ireland. Budget 2018 continues this discrimination and, at the same time, widens the gap between our young jobseekers and all other jobseekers. There is now a gap of €90.30 between jobseeker's payments for 18 to 24 year olds and those aged 26 and over. Sinn Féin welcomes the State pension increases. It is disappointing that this increase will be delayed again this year, especially when it is needed in January and February to help pay heating bills.

The discrimination against our older citizens also continues in budget 2018 because it fails to reverse the changes that were brought about in 2012 or the pension cuts that impact more than 35,000 older people, mainly women. This has been acknowledged across the House. I listen week in, week out to Deputies on the Government, the Fianna Fáil and other benches criticising it and calling on the Government to do something. The budget does absolutely nothing to address that discrimination. It is all just talk and waffle.

Fine Gael continues to punish tens of thousands of older people for taking time out of the workforce to care for their families and rear children. The answer we always get to this is that the total contributions approach is being brought forward to 2020, which is too far away. We need clarity as to whether this will be retrospective.

Will this take into account those already in receipt of reduced State pensions? There is nothing in this budget for 65-year olds who will continue to be forced to sign on for jobseeker's payment through mandatory retirement. More than 5,000 people aged 65 are on jobseeker's payments.

The recent announcement to extend maternity leave and benefit to mothers who have had their babies prematurely is welcome. However, the date imposed is unfair. Just today, I was contacted by a mother, whose twin babies were born 16 weeks early on 26 September, five days before the start date of 1 October, who, therefore, cannot receive the extended time off and benefit. I ask the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, to consider extending this to mothers currently on leave who have had premature babies. This would not cost much, but would be very beneficial to these families.

The budget is a missed opportunity and it ingrains the discrimination in our social protection system for older citizens and for young unemployed people.

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