Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Having been a Member of this House only since February, I am aware that a vast amount of the time in this Chamber is spent on the Opposition misleading many people that this Government does not protect the most vulnerable in our society. From the first days during which the programme for Government was being put together, that has been a core objective of this Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.

The passage of this Bill gives us an opportunity to reflect on those facts, not the social media spin. There has been a 41% increase in the planned spend on social welfare in 2020. That is not 4% or 14% but 41%. The Bill the Minister has brought before the House is the largest amount in terms of expenditure ever in the history of the State. It contains many measures which I could spend time welcoming but I particularly want to welcome the decision not to increase the pension age. I, too, would like to credit those involved in the Stop 67 campaign but I am also one of the Government Deputies who voted for it as opposed to those in opposition who will vote against this Bill. It is a core commitment of my party to ensure that older people are protected. After a lifetime of hard work it is what they deserve and I have great pleasure in voting for that in this Chamber.

The Bill also includes an increase in the living alone allowance. People who receive the allowance are mainly pensioners and those with a disability. They will receive an increase of €5, bringing the payment up to €19 per week. That is 221,000 vulnerable people who will benefit from an increase. It does not apply to every pensioner because we have had to prioritise and we have prioritised those who are the most vulnerable - those living alone. It is a progressive and practical decision.

I also welcome the increase of €150 in the carer's support grant, raising the payment to €1,850. A total of 130,000 carers will benefit from the increase next year, another progressive and practical decision.

Included in this Bill is a reduction in waiting days from six to three, with the effect that claimants can be paid illness or injury benefit from the fourth day of illness or injury. This measure will be an improvement in the insurance coverage of ordinary workers by reducing the financial burden of being absent from work due to illness experienced by many this year. I believe that we need to go further with this measure and I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment to do so.

Despite battling a pandemic, as of yesterday, the Department of Social Protection and the Minister are paying €390 million in a December bonus to 1.6 million people who are receiving long-term weekly welfare payments. This is about protecting the vulnerable in our society and I believe it is another progressive and practical decision. I welcome that people who have been in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment for 17 weeks this year will also receive this bonus.

The Bill does not include many of the other supports which we have provided this year, including the employment wage subsidy scheme and the Covid restrictions support scheme, which are progressive and practical decisions which will protect people's jobs. The Government has been committed in the grip of the pandemic to finalise pay restoration for workers. It is not just addressing the FEMPI cuts or providing for judges or politicians only, as some in this Chamber would have one believe, but every public servant in the country, starting with the lowest paid. It is a progressive and practical decision. It has not been said enough that this Government is supporting the most vulnerable, while at the same time establishing itself as an outlier in Europe. It is not an outlier in unfairness, as some would have people believe, but an outlier regarding how we have managed the Covid virus. Ireland now has one of the lowest rates of the virus in the European Union, which this Government can be proud of.

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