Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I think we are all in trepidation over the children injured in the incident in Parnell Square. We hope that there is good news from it in the near future.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire put it well when he said the whole idea of social welfare payments is to protect people from poverty. That must be the prism through which we look at everything. We need to move away from the idea of a fiver here, €12 there or a proposal by somebody else for €20 on different payments. That impacts greatly on people's lives. We need to move on our proposal for a social welfare adequacy commission. We need to remove this from politics and ensure that we can deliver the payments that people require.

Sinn Féin has been fairly clear that the pension age should be 65.

The Minister has herself spoken about those who work in more difficult jobs. They may need a quicker retirement than others. Also, we should obviously facilitate those who are well, able and willing to work. Yet, those are two very different things.

Pay-related social welfare payments are something we are in support of. The Government has a bit of a journey to go. We all understand the idea, which is that people must be able to cover their payments and their bills. We must facilitate them to get back into the workforce. That is necessary.

I wish to deal with the issue of carers. I welcome the changes that have been made to thresholds and pensions. We need to look at the huge piece of work that has been done by carers. I recently attended an award day by Family Carers Ireland. Lilly Treanor was the lady who won from Monaghan. She was presented with her award by Margo O'Donnell. It seems that Margo was my supporting act and I was delighted with that. Unfortunately for Stephanie O’Farrell from Louth, she was left with me, and that is like getting a wooden spoon. They do huge work for the State. The Minister and I have spoken previously about the need for a review of the carers piece in order that we can introduce something that is sustainable in the long term and that recognises the work they do. That is absolutely necessary.

Regarding the humanitarian assistance scheme, the Minister was in Trinity Close. Together with a number of other elected representatives, such as Councillor Antóin Watters, I have requested the Minister to look at the issue of certain payments. I still have an issue with the appeals and the length of time it is taking. I have a couple of nightmare numbers. I will talk to the Minister afterwards in relation to it. There is a very specific case and I have no doubt that the Minister is the only person who can sort it.

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