Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to examine the Social Welfare Bill 2022, which gives effect to the changes announced in budget 2023 as announced by the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, on 27 September last.

This cost-of-living budget will help families to cope with the impact of rising costs of living. There is no trickle-down side to this. There will be a direct and substantial aid to those most in need. This month alone will see people on half a dozen schemes receive lump-sum payments such as the €400 cost-of-living fuel allowance payment to all households getting the fuel allowance, the €200 cost-of-living lump-sum payment for pensioners and people with a disability receiving the living alone allowance, the €500 cost-of-living lump-sum to all families getting the working family payment, the double payment of child allowance to support all families with children, the €500 cost-of-living lump-sum payment for people getting the carer's support grant as well as the €500 cost-of-living lump-sum disability support grant which will be paid to all people getting a long-term disability payment. The single biggest measure, costing nearly €900 million, is the permanent increase in the social welfare payment of €12 - the largest ever increase in these payments and part of the largest ever social protection package.

In Fianna Fáil, we reject the Opposition's proposal to give less to pensioners. Pensioners deserve our support and we will continue to oppose the idea that they should be treated unequally.

These increases will apply to all people who receive a principal social welfare payment. More people will qualify for the working family payment, the qualified child allowance and the fuel allowance, which is being increased, as are the payments to carers and people on CE schemes. Of course, this is on top of benefiting from the other once-off measures addressing inflation which I have mentioned. The one-off payments to people are welcome and necessary. I will single out one change as important. The expansion of the fuel allowance scheme to people over 70 years of age is extremely significant. A couple over 70 with an income of up to €1,000 per week will be eligible for fuel allowance for the first time ever from January 2023. This significant change will benefit thousands of households, not only in my constituency in Dún Laoghaire but across Ireland. I raised this issue of people with a modest pension being locked out of the fuel allowance scheme during the summer, when I called for that threshold to be increased. I thank the Minister and her colleagues in government for taking that suggestion on board. I would ask that a publicity campaign be launched to ensure that people are aware of this significant change and that there is sufficient staff within the Department to deal with the increased volume of applications that no doubt will follow. It is important that people get that.

Finally, I join my colleagues in expressing concern about the community welfare office system. Recent changes have led to community welfare officers being one step further removed from the individuals who are most in need of financial support. Emergency appointments are extremely hard to obtain for people. Those physically present in the community welfare offices are not dealing with a much larger volume of calls, callers or those seeking their assistance. Certainly, the recent changes need to be evaluated to ensure we keep that kind of direct contact. All public representatives in this House are receiving a higher volume of requests from people who are in dire straits of various different degrees, be it financial or otherwise, and need to avail of the community welfare office system, which is a fantastic system. We need to ensure it is front-facing and welcoming to those most in need.

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