Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Bill. The Social Welfare Bill is very important legislation as it gives effect to the wide array of social welfare changes and related matters that were the subject of announcements when the Minister for Finance introduced the budget on 10 October last. Therefore, the Bill incorporates the €5 increases in the maximum rates of weekly payments for pensioners, lone parents, jobseekers, carers, people with disabilities, widows and people on unemployment programmes. It would be churlish of me and my party not to welcome the fact that these increases and improvements arise across a number of areas. They are not large or significant by any objective standard, especially for people on fixed incomes with little or no capacity to achieve any other income to enable them to increase their standard of living, but I hope and I trust that these increases will improve people's living standards in some small way and their quality of life over the next 12 months or so.

The regrettable aspect is the structure and implementation date for these increases to take effect, namely, 26 March 2018. Therefore, in effect, for 2018 the increase will be only €3.80, which is somewhat less than the increases given in 2014, and I must emphasise this. The 2014 increases drew some adverse comment. While the Minister will make a plausible argument about the available fiscal space to explain why these payments will be deferred for 12 weeks or so, the forecast budget for 2018 of slightly in excess of €20 billion is almost one third of the total expenditure being allocated to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. One of the objectives from here on is for these changes which give increased payments to become operative on 1 January following the budget announcements. After all, taxation changes and especially excise duties are implemented immediately. I note there is provision for a €2 increase for each qualified dependent child in respect of all weekly payments, and this is to be welcomed. I think the last time there was any such increase was as far back as 2010 or thereabouts.

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