Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Taken as a whole, budget 2023 will help families across Ireland somewhat to meet the growing costs of food, heat and electricity this winter. The measures announced such as the extension of fuel allowance thresholds, electricity credit payments, double child benefit payments and the once-off €500 payment to recipients of the working family payment will go some way to reducing anxieties and alleviating the fears of those on low incomes regarding their ability to afford daily necessities.

However, it is bitterly disappointing that social welfare increases will not match rates of inflation and in the medium to longer term, this will mean that more families could struggle next year as their finances do not stretch as far. While we strongly welcome many of the measures introduced in budget 2023 to help protect families this winter with essentials, we fear these measures do not go far enough to alleviate the financial struggles families are facing. We hear first-hand from families across the country who are anxious about whether there will be enough money for food, heat, electricity and clothing.

The reality for people who apply for a disability payment is that they are waiting well over eight weeks before they are turned down for the payment. They then have to appeal and must wait for weeks and weeks again. I heard from one lady who has been waiting for well over nine weeks for a disability payment. One lady who came to see me in my clinic two weeks ago told me that the budget did nothing for her. She was very critical of me for not putting up a strong argument. She had cancer last year and is only able to work three days a week. She does not want to go and there are "X"s and "O"s and social welfare continuously chases her to get full-time employment. She is trying to live on €300 per week. She said she is getting nothing - nothing to fill the oil tank at home and to put fuel in the car and insure it. She said: "I'm getting nothing." She said she is falling between every crack. She is earning €300 per week. She is happy with her job and is happy to work. If she could work full time, she said she certainly would but she does not have the ability to do so. Unfortunately, for many reasons, she is falling between the cracks.

Carers receiving carer's allowance, which is means tested. It is mainly women who are carers. Many carers spend hours every day taking care of the patient. When they are means tested and if their spouse or partner is working, their allowance is reduced. This payment should never be means tested. If a person takes on the role of carer, he or she needs to be paid accordingly. But for carers, our overflowing hospitals would be in dire straits. Carers need to be paid without being means tested. What they get is a pittance compared to what a hospital, home help or nursing home would cost the State.

While we welcome the increases, we believe they do not go far enough to protect the most financially vulnerable. That was why the Rural Independent Group Deputies called for a €20 per week increase in all weekly social welfare payments. The reality is that the cost-of-living crisis is having a profound impact on the high proportion of individuals in Ireland who are unemployed, have a long-term illness or disability, live alone or are single parents. This is because such households spend a greater proportion of their income on essentials, which exposes them to price increases in the shops and hikes in energy prices.

Core social welfare rates were not increased in two out of the past four budgets. Older people are living in fear this winter. That fear stems from not knowing whether they can afford to light or heat their homes or put food on the table. This is why the Rural Independent Group sought an increase of €20 per week in our pre-budget submission and, therefore, we are disappointed that the Government has chosen not to protect older people's weekly spending power sufficiently. A €12 per week increase simply will not give pensioners the same spending power they had in January 2022.

The pension rights of CE scheme supervisors were mentioned in the debate. They should get these pension rights. Even though there has been some rectification of the wrong done to them for years, many of them have not received their payments. Some of them came to see me in my clinic last weekend. Some have received payments and others have not, which is unfair. This needs to be rectified urgently because it has been going on for years.

I was contacted by an accountant yesterday. Businesses are struggling. Many of them are on their knees. One accountant who deals with quite a lot of businesses in west Cork told me yesterday that he paid their electricity bill himself. I know this will not last for long. They are meant to get the subsidy in February 2023. He pleaded with me to urge the Government to bring that forward because quite a lot of these businesses are on the brink. They are café owners, restaurant owners and pub owners. They are telling him they are on the brink. One business would have gone to the wall yesterday morning but for him writing a cheque himself. This cannot continue. That is what is happening.

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