Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The purpose of this Bill is to provide the legislative framework for the implementation of the social protection measures contained in budget 2018. It includes the provisions required to enable a €5 increase in the maximum rate of all weekly social welfare payments. It provides for a €2 increase for each qualified dependent child, the first such increase since 2010. It provides for a suite of measures which are targeted at ensuring that we make sure that work pays. It provides for the extension of entitlement to maternity leave and maternity benefit in cases of premature births.

The Bill is grounded In the values and principles which underpinned budget 2018. The budget reflects a commitment to supporting individuals and families who may rely to a greater or lesser extent on the State for their income needs; a commitment to making work pay and to supporting people into employment; and a commitment to enabling and facilitating the development of a sustainable and resilient economy in the interest of all of our citizens.

The Social Welfare Bill reinforces our commitment to building a fairer and more inclusive society, with a dual focus on incentivising and rewarding work on the one hand and, on the other, enhancing welfare supports for those who have attained pension age, who are carers or who, by virtue of illness, disability or unemployment, are not in a position to provide for themselves. I would like to briefly outline the provisions of the Bill.

Sections 1 and 2 are standard provisions setting out the Short Title of the Bill, its construction, citation, commencement provisions and definitions of terms used in the Bill. Section 3 provides for an amendment to the definition of the term “share-based remuneration” to cater for the introduction of a new tax relief being introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. This tax relief is the key employee engagement programme for qualifying share options granted to employees of small to medium enterprises and is being provided for in the Finance Bill. The amendment in the Social Welfare Bill simply provides that any gains realised on the exercise of a share option by workers via the key employee engagement programme will not be subject to PRSI.

Sections 4, 5, and 6 provide for an increase of €5 per week in the rates of maternity benefit, adoptive benefit and paternity benefit respectively, with effect from 26 March 2018. Section 7 provides for the proportionate increases in the rates of jobseeker’s benefit which are payable where the average reckonable weekly earnings are less than a prescribed amount. Section 11, which I will come to shortly, provides for the increase in the maximum rate of jobseeker’s benefit.

Section 8, together with Schedule 1, provides for the re-designatIon of the family income supplement as the working family payment. The decision to do this follows a review by my Department of the effectiveness of the range of in-work supports we provide. The title of "working family payment" will explicitly reflect the nature of the payment and will facilitate further take-up of this payment which is aimed specifically at working families.

The Department’s approach, my approach and that of my predecessor to the working family payment is guided by two principles: first, that we have to ensure that work pays and it is worthwhile for people to go out to work; and, second, that it should have a positive impact on reducing child poverty in the country, which is still far too high. That is of particular importance to me. It is not as simple as changing the name from family income supplement, FIS, to working family payment. Under section 8, I am proposing to put FIS under the umbrella of working family payments and I plan to bring forward a number of progressive supports for working families with a view to assisting those who are transitioning from unemployment into employment, and in some cases from under-employment into full employment.

Section 9 provides for an increase of €10 in the weekly earnings thresholds for the working family payment for recipients who have up to three children, with effect from 29 March 2018. Section 10 provides for another positive measure to support the transition from unemployment into employment by enabling the continuation of the back-to-work family dividend. The existing legislation had the effect of closing the scheme to new claimants from the end of March 2018 and the closure of the scheme in its entirety from 2021. We will stop that. Section 11, together with Schedule 2, provides for new rates for the full range of social insurance benefits. All maximum weekly insurance-based pensions and benefits are being increased by €5, with effect from the week commencing 26 March 2018, with proportionate increases for those in receipt of reduced rate payments. This section also provides for proportionate increases in respect of qualified adults, together with the increase of €2 per week in the qualified child payment. Section 12 provides for an increase in the earnings disregard for one-parent family payments from €110 to €130 per week. This measure comes into effect from 29 March 2018.

Section 13, together with Schedule 3, mirrors the provisions of section 11 with the increase in the rates payable to social assistance claimants, which will come into effect in the week commencing 26 March 2018. This section specifically also provides that jobseekers aged under 26 on a reduced rate payment will receive the full €5 increase per week. Sections 14 and 15 provide for extended periods of entitlement to maternity benefit and maternity leave, respectively, in cases of premature births on or after 1 October 2017. The extended period of entitlement will be equivalent to the duration between the actual date of birth of the premature baby and two weeks before the expected date of birth, which is the point at which the current entitlement to 26 weeks leave and benefit would normally begin. By way of illustration, where a baby is born in the 30th week of gestation, the child’s mother will have an additional entitlement of approximately seven weeks of maternity leave and benefit. This is equivalent to the period from the actual date of birth in the 30th week to the date two weeks before the expected date of birth. This additional period will be added to the mother’s normal entitlement to 26 weeks of maternity leave and benefit.

Section 14 introduces the necessary changes to the Social Welfare Acts to provide for the additional maternity benefit, whereas section 15 introduces the parallel provisions to the Maternity Protection Act 1994 with respect to maternity leave. Section 16 provides for an amendment to the National Training Fund Act 2000 to provide for a 0.1% increase, from 0.7% to 0.8%, in the national training fund levy payable by employers in respect of reckonable earnings of employees in class A and class H employments from 1 January 2018.

The House will be aware that the budget also provided for a number of other measures that do not require changes to the primary legislation. I signed the regulations earlier this week that allow for the payment of the Christmas bonus payment to persons in receipt of long-term social welfare payments. Other non-statutory measures in the budget included the extension of the free fuel allowance by one week and the introduction of the new telephone support allowance. This week, I also signed a commencement order relating to a measure in last year’s

budget extending the invalidity pension scheme to self-employed workers for the first time. This includes small business owners, farmers, tradespeople, freelancers, contractors and professionals.

The Bill before us today will serve to improve the living standards of all those who have recourse to the social protection system. It is the second budget in a row in which it has been possible to provide for an increase of €5 per week in social welfare rates, reflecting the Government’s commitment that the benefits of the continuing economic recovery should be shared by all of our citizens. The additional resources being applied to the qualified child payment, the first such increase to be introduced for seven years, reflects our commitment to supporting families. The Bill also ensures that the social protection system offers real incentives to take up employment opportunities, recognising that working families are the backbone of Irish society. I hope and trust the Bill will be supported by all sides of the House. I commend it to the House.

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