James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been in both at times.

As Fianna Fáil is aware of the existential threats of Brexit to the economy and the nation, we are facilitating the passage of the Bill and related legislation. We have stood up to that challenge and provided stability and for continuity at a time when it is needed, which is in start contrast to our counterparts in neighbouring jurisdictions, including the North and elsewhere. This is the fourth budget under the confidence and supply agreement and I expect it to be the last. It testifies to Fianna Fáil's responsible and mature approach, something which is not always reciprocated by those on the other side of the House. Some of the trivial social media activities in which the Government has engaged lately are not becoming of a Government party, least of all one facilitated by the Opposition, but so be it. We will have that battle in the new year.

The Bill will give effect, among other things, to an increase in the national minimum wage which was deferred in the budget in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit. We think we are beginning to move slowly towards some deal or arrangement and that perhaps that precipice has been avoided. While there is that threat, it is important that we mitigate it. In its most recent bulletin the Central Bank projects that number in employment will be 73,000 lower in 2021, with the rate of unemployment forecast to rise to 5.8% in 2020 in a no-deal scenario. These are the reasons it is important that we provide for this and act accordingly. However, if and when the threat of a no-deal Brexit is removed, the Minister should immediately act to implement the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission which covers many people in public services, including many front-line public servants, those in the emergency services and other professions. It is critical that that be done as soon as it is financially feasible to do so, if a no-deal Brexit comes off the table.

There are many aspects of the Bill with which we are not happy. It was not our budget and we would have liked to have seen many things changed. We are disappointed that there are no primary welfare payment increases for pensioner couples, carers and people with disabilities. We welcome the increase in targeted measures such as the living alone allowance, the fuel allowance, the qualified child increase and the increased income thresholds for the working family payment and the one-parent family payment. My colleagues who held this brief were pivotal in making the case for these measures. However, overall it is not a pretty vista. Unfortunately, after nine years of Fine Gael in government, we are in the midst of crises in housing provision, healthcare, transport and education services. Some 10,000 people are living in emergency accommodation, more than 500,000 are awaiting an outpatient appointment, 760,000 are at risk of poverty, while 105,000 children are classed as living in consistent poverty, with almost one in five classed as experiencing deprivation. Unfortunately, that is Ireland in which we live after nine years of Fine Gael in government.

We must be mindful of those who are often called the working poor. It is important when we put in place welfare supports that we recognise many of those who are in work but living on the breadline. They are the ones who are making the effort to get up in the morning to go to work, arrange childcare, then pay their bus fare, for transport, diesel or whatever else and who often have little to show for it. A recent article in TheIrish Timesdiscussed being on a good wage but still broke. It typified much of middle Ireland, where people are making their best effort in getting up in the morning to often travel long distances to work, yet it seems that at the end of the month they have pennies left, if they have not gone into an overdraft. It is the job of any welfare and enterprise system to support them and ensure they will have something to show after a day's work. Otherwise, there will be significant frustration and disillusionment if one ends up in that trap.

On an ancillary note, I am conscious that this is Science Week. We are talking about the Social Welfare (No. 2) Bill 2019, but we must look at the bigger picture in disucssing economic planning and activities. I have said repeatedly that we have not met our targets in promoting innovation, investment and research and development. We are nowhere near the 2.5% of GDP target the Government set in Innovation 2020. We are closer to a figure of 1.4% of GDP.

If we take away the private sector element and look purely at the public funding of research and development, we are at just under 0.6%, and Mexico is the only country that lags behind us in public financing of research and development activities.

I mention that in the context of this debate because, traditionally, in the post-industrial age - Ireland went straight from the agricultural to the post-industrial age -our economic strategy for the past 40 or 50 years has been to develop a knowledge economy and advanced innovation to differentiate ourselves not on the grounds of manufacturing or minimal employment costs, but rather by positioning ourselves at the higher end, with an educated workforce and a particular offering that adds value to make this an attractive location for multinationals, as well as our indigenous businesses and others, to invest in. That investment drives economic growth and dividends, which, in turn, feed back into public services and a healthy Exchequer, high-quality employment and high employment levels, as well as providing more resources for those who need help. It is something we need to address, therefore, for many reasons. I hope the Minister takes the message back to Government that, unfortunately, for all that our economic strategy is pinned around it, our innovation strategy and innovation spend are nowhere near where they need to be.

Deputy Calleary mentioned CE schemes, to which the Minister has made some reforms in the past couple of years. Many of us on this side of the House repeatedly raise the issues faced by people on these schemes, in particular the difficulties with JobPath, Turas Nua and other companies that came into the system. Those companies were perhaps bringing a private sector approach to a more complex problem or challenge, and the experience of many of those schemes was not positive. The experience of CE schemes is invariably positive but some of the replacement or successor schemes have not been so positive.

I am reminded of a particular individual who came into my clinic on one occasion. He had been on a CE scheme and was looking to get onto a further scheme, but had been unsuccessful in doing so and was being pushed onto JobPath and different work reskilling programmes. While these might be eminently suitable for certain people, having reviewed this person's papers, I concluded he qualified for a long-term, ongoing payment in perpetuity and did not need to go on a scheme, given his medical history and his general circumstances, and he could, therefore, avoid the stress involved. He turned to me and said he wanted to work, he wanted to be on a scheme and he wanted a supervisor on a Monday morning telling him what work to do. He wanted the dignity and the structure that came with that. Financially, he would have been at a slight disadvantage by remaining on the scheme rather than taking the long-term payment, but it was his preference to have a structure and a working environment where he could positively contribute to his community and his town by working on the project the scheme was undertaking. It is important to recognise that mindset and it is a challenge the Department must recognise and reward in regard to the design and implementation of these schemes.

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