Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Social Welfare Bill as it goes through the House. It is important to acknowledge that there is a lot of good in this Bill. It follows on from other improvements made over the years in relation to social welfare payments. I, too, acknowledge the work of staff in social welfare offices throughout the country who are at the beck and call of Members and the public. In tough times and good times they have been there to steer people as they try to navigate their way to a payment. It is important to acknowledge that, as I am sure the Minister does.

I welcome a lot of the improvements and the money that has been spent because it is going to the people who need it. The important aspect of social welfare is that money goes to the person who needs it. It is not filtered through Departments such as the Department of Health where some of it gets lost. I acknowledge the commitment the Minister showed when we introduced a Private Members' motion on carers and not means testing carer's allowance. It is important that we continue on that trajectory so that we bring in a non-means-tested carer's allowance. It will not happen overnight but the commitment is there. We acknowledge that but we need to make sure it happens as quickly as possible.

There are carers in my constituency, and no doubt in the Minister's constituency, who are living off the fact that their husband or wife is working in a good job.

The other partner may have given up a career to stay at home to mind a loved one. They do that and save the State money. We all know the facts and figures. It is a question of implementing something that will be of enormous benefit to people who are not looking for something for nothing. They are giving a service to the State beyond what the State itself could provide and would cost the State €20 billion a year. It is important we do that.

The fuel allowance means test disregard for older people should have been considered. The fuel allowance is what I call a ticket to qualifying for the warmer homes scheme. For older people to have a warmer house, insulate their houses and put in a better heating system is of enormous benefit to them. If people in their 70s, 80s or 90s want to do this work but do not have the fuel or carer's allowance, they will not get a loan to do it. It is important to note the carer's allowance is a ticket to that scheme. From my experience in dealing with it in my constituency, Galway East, there are problems with the time of delivery of the scheme and what can or cannot be done but they can be ironed out. We should try to get more people in with an income disregard for older people for the fuel allowance.

As a member of the disability matters committee, I wish to home in on people with disabilities. The cost of living with a disability is constant with a long-term disability. We should bring in a support grant for persons with a disability beyond the disability allowance or payment. In my constituency, I came across a man with a disability who found love in his life and got married. Once he did, his disability allowance went from around €200 down to €54 because his wife works. He told me that if he had known that, he would have lived in sin and taken the monetary gain. It is the principle of it; somebody with a permanent, long-term disability should be given a disability allowance irrespective of their partner's income. A person with a disability has a lot of additional costs which should be met. There are a lot of ongoing issues for an adult or a child with a disability and so many families are affected. We should take a caring approach to the disability sector and make sure we take care of the most vulnerable in society. We spoke earlier about child protection but we need to protect people with a disability as well.

I also wish to raise the self-employed. I have come across cases of a self-employed person who might be a one-man operator or subcontractor, such as a plumber or electrician, who goes off sick and does not get illness benefit because the self-employed do not pay the same rate of PRSI. I thought that had been resolved but obviously it has not because people still come to my office when they fall sick and have no income. They get no money. They may have two or three people working for them as subcontractors. If their employee falls sick, they get sorted out but the person employing people is not sorted out. There should be a focus on that. For example, the self-employed could pay a higher rate of PRSI to qualify. Small business owners get sick as well. They have to take time off work when they are sick. If they do not have the security of some sort of income, their mortgages can fall behind and they have families to support. It is important to look at that issue in the long term. They also cannot get a medical card in many cases. I came across a case in which the wife of a self-employed person could not get a medical card even on emergency grounds because he was self-employed and was treated differently, yet the wife was also penalised. There are anomalies in the system and in the Minister's budget. I know it is hard to get everything right. She has got lots of things right over the years but it is important to focus on the things that are not right and make them better.

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