Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A robust and adequate social welfare system is the cornerstone of any republic, the sworn duty and aim of which should be to look after the most vulnerable and the less well-off in society. The nation's population will be healthier and freer to enjoy their life, if they know there is a safety net for them and their families if they fall on hard times. In the current cost-of-living crisis, with soaring energy and food costs increasing daily, our social welfare system is needed now more than ever. This is why I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and to raise some of the issues my office and I are dealing with on a daily basis.

We must reform our social protection system by ensuring that all social welfare rates are adequate and protect those who are most at risk from poverty and deprivation. Despite a growing cost-of-living crisis, current social welfare rates are far behind where they need to be. Working age payments need to be brought up to a minimum essential standard-of-living system. The €12 weekly increase to core social welfare rates is inadequate, as this has been already swallowed up by the rate of inflation, the extra costs of the weekly shopping trolley, and a massive increase in utility bills. A €12 increase in this day and age is not enough to protect those reliant on social payments from poverty and does not recognise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on those on fixed incomes, particularly old age pensioners and people with disabilities.

Households will also have to wait until January 2023 to see these increases. Sinn Féin brought forward proposals to increase social welfare rates with effect from October, in order that people could see additional support in their pockets immediately. Turnaround times for some supports are causing unnecessary hardship, anxiety and mental stress on people who are already in very difficult circumstances.

My office is constantly dealing with people in County Wexford who are in dire need of the supplementary welfare allowance and the additional needs payment but are waiting for far too long for their applications to be processed. This backlog also puts additional pressures on already exhausted social welfare officers. I ask the Minister to take these issues seriously and put a resourced plan in place to address this backlog.

I am also very concerned about energy poverty, especially in more rural areas like County Wexford. The announced expansion to the fuel allowance is welcome but very limited. There will be little additional eligibility for those households that would have been locked out of the scheme before this year's budget. Those who will gain from the changes to eligibility will not do so until January 2023. We in Sinn Féin have called for eligibility for the scheme to be expanded to working family payment recipients to target increased accessibility for the scheme among lower income working families with children.

We also called for a discretionary fund to be established to provide a safety net for those outside of the eligibility criteria who might need support. I ask the Minister for her response to this proposal. It would make a huge difference to the lives of families in County Wexford and beyond and would ensure that they can stay warm this Christmas and throughout the winter. Insufficient heat is one of the measures of deprivation.

Overall, I welcome the increases in social welfare protections that this Bill will bring but I respectfully ask that the Minister give due consideration to the other issues raised. Right now, we must do all we can to protect people from poverty and the deprivation that it brings.

See this speech in context