Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For a social protection system to work, it must meet the needs of people, which means it must deliver social welfare rates that are adequate and protect those who rely on social welfare from poverty. There are close to 40 different social welfare payments. Our social protection system is wide and varied and, in all likelihood, everyone in the State will receive some form of social welfare payment at some point in their lives such as child, illness or maternity benefit, disability allowance, jobseeker’s allowance, etc. Wide and varied as the system may be, it is only as good as the adequacy of the payment rates.

Unfortunately, as it currently stands and despite a growing cost-of-living crisis, social welfare rates are far behind where they need to be. Current rates leave vulnerable people at risk of poverty, especially older people and those with a disability. Current rates are not at the minimum essential standard of living, MESL, to protect people from poverty and provide rate adequacy across the system. The MESL is based on long-standing work by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice. To this end, Sinn Féin proposed increasing working-age weekly social welfare rates by €17.50; pensions by €15 and by €17.50 for those living alone; disability-related payments by €20; and increases for qualified children over and under 12.

The increases announced in the budget will not protect those who depend on social protection from poverty and does not recognise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on those reliant on fixed incomes. As my colleague, an Teachta Kerrane said, the once-off payments are welcome. It would be great if poverty and being at risk of poverty were only once-off but they are a constant every day for people who depend on social welfare. What is more, they will still have to wait until January to see these increases. They should have taken effect immediately in order that people could see additional support. The people who need these payments are in crisis now. They need those increases. Sinn Féin called for the national minimum wage increase to start in October for exactly that reason. On that front, we called for a €1.50 increase in the minimum wage as a kick-start to delivering a living wage by January 2025.

While I welcome that last year’s budget brought the number of weeks of parent’s benefit and leave available to parents following the birth of a child from five weeks to seven weeks, it is a pity that lone parents can only access seven weeks benefit and leave, while two-parent families can access the full 14 weeks. I hope the Government will examine and fix this anomaly.

Finally, I wish to speak to the matter of the State pension. I was at the Connect Trade Union delegate conference at the weekend where one of the core motions passed by union members was for workers to have a right to retire on the State pension at the age of 65. Workers and voters have spoken on this matter. I believe they wish to be able to retire on a decent pension at 65 or have the right to continue working past 65 if they are able. The Government, by its actions, has proved it is dead set against this.

The delegates at the Connect Trade Union conference were workers who are on their feet day in and day out. They work in construction and transport and are tradespeople. They simply cannot be expected to continue working beyond 65. They deserve the State pension at 65 and the Government should commit to doing so. It is ridiculous that two and a half years into its tenure, the Government has failed to deliver on this matter and it looks to me and the workers who spoke at the conference as though the Government never will.

Exceptional needs payments have been raised by my colleagues, na Teachtaí Mitchell and Kerrane, which are emergency payments. They are emergency interventions that people require on a once-off, non-recurring basis because there is an emergency. In my constituency of Fingal, I speak to people who tell me they have to wait five weeks and longer for a decision but the emergency is today and while the awareness campaign is welcome, the Minister is making people aware of a service that is not at the standard it should be. When people are in crisis, they should be dealt with immediately.

It is remiss of the Minister not to keep abreast of the delays and the time it is taking to process these payments. An Teachta Mitchell is correct in that people are embarrassed. They do not necessarily wish to have to ask for these payments but, when they do, they should be processed in a timely manner because they are in an emergency today. People need the payments today but they have to wait weeks. We say that if people have to wait years for an early intervention, the Minister has to stop calling it an early intervention. She cannot call this an emergency payment if it will not be there when the person is experiencing the emergency.

I thank my colleague, an Teachta Kerrane, for all of the work she has done on aligning the disability allowance with the domiciliary care allowance when it comes to the death of a young adult who was in receipt of the disability allowance. It should be aligned with the domiciliary care allowance. It is not too hard. We are not talking about large numbers of people or considerable sums. It is the only compassionate thing to do.

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