Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am a little incognito today, yes.

Listening to the Government benches today, one would swear Sinn Féin did not produce an alternative budget. One would swear Deputy Kerrane did not go and fully cost an alternative budget when it came to social welfare measures. It was fully costed by Departments of Government. Listening to what has been thrown across, like much of the stuff that the Government is trying to put in, it does not add up.

We are in the middle of one of the toughest cost-of-living crises we have seen since the days of Fine Gael austerity. This cost-of-living crisis affects all people on this island but it affects those who are most vulnerable the most. Increases in social welfare payments are welcome during these times but the measures in budget 2023 are not enough to meet the rising costs of food, fuel and rent. Those who are the most vulnerable are squeezed the most and any steps taken by Government to address this must put these people front and centre.

When it comes to emergency payments, they are not emergency payments at all they take that long for people to access. I have constituents who have applied for fuel allowance who were refused because one individual in the household does not have a qualifying payment. There could be three people with a qualifying payment in a household, but one without, which disqualifies the whole household. One person in a family who is on minimum wage disqualifies the rest of the household from getting fuel allowance. These are the families who are struggling to heat their homes this winter.

Sinn Féin has called for a discretionary fund to be established to ensure workers and families who are not eligible for fuel allowance but are struggling with utility debt can receive assistance when they need it. The advice given to them is to contact their local community welfare office and apply for supplementary welfare allowance. It takes up to eight weeks. It is not an emergency payment. Up to eight weeks is nowhere near an emergency payment.

Time and again, the Government is not responding properly to the emergencies in society, be that in housing, health or the cost of living. Another constituent of mine applied for the supplementary allowance because they were unable to afford clothes for their children. They were refused on the basis that they did not have a medical need. This should not be a reason to refuse the supplementary allowance, particularly as they supplied the budget, as they were requested, of their outgoings demonstrating their need for support. I have raised this issue with the Minister by email on two occasions. I have an acknowledgement from her but I have not received an answer to that query. I would appreciate if this could be followed up today.

I will finish on this because it is welcome but it does not go far enough. The Bill will roll out a gratuity payment for former CE scheme supervisors. Many people in my area would welcome this as they feel that they were ignored for a long time. This was agreed last year but many former CE supervisors are still waiting for their gratuity payments to be made. When will this payment for these crucial workers within our communities be made and when will they receive these payments?

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