Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on the recent findings of the Vincentian Partnership which found low income families to be facing a financial shortfall each week to meet an acceptable standard of living. [4615/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is referring to the research report of the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice titled, Minimum Essential Budgets for Six Households, which was published in November 2006. The partnership is updating the findings of that research to reflect improvements in social welfare and other benefits introduced in budget 2007 or during the course of the past year. A draft of that work has been furnished to my Department and is being studied by my officials. I understand that my officials have some queries that they have raised and will continue to raise with the partnership.

It is clear at this stage that the decisive steps taken by the Government on a wide range of fronts in the past two years have addressed some of the problems and challenges identified in this report and other similar studies. Such actions include the introduction of the early child care supplement, introduced after the research for this project was conducted, and its subsequent increase in budget 2008 to €1,100 per annum for each child under the age of six years, the introduction of the national child care investment programme, improvements in the means testing arrangements for jobseeker's allowance and a wide ranging reform of the assessment of spouses' earnings for that allowance, disability allowance and other payments designed to encourage people to work and increase total household income.

Other actions include changes in the upper earnings limit for the one-parent family payment, increases in the national minimum wage, an increase in the family income supplement and its extension to a greater number of families, significant increases in social welfare payments in the last two budgets, which have seen pensions increase by €30 per week since 2006 and basic social welfare rate by €32 per week in the same period — these increases have been well in excess of inflation and wage growth — and increases of more than 10% in the rates of child benefit together with a significant restructuring and enhancement of qualified child allowance.

The Government is committed to improving the standard of living of welfare dependent and low-income households significantly and to making a decisive impact on poverty and social exclusion. We have clearly demonstrated our commitment in this regard and will continue to do so.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I was disappointed by the Minister's reply, the majority of which was culled from his budget speech and which we have heard several times.

Is the Minister aware there are 290,000 people living in consistent poverty, many of whom are children? Is he aware that 770,000 people, many of whom are children, are at risk of poverty? These figures come from a State organisation, the Combat Poverty Agency. Is he ashamed that there was no fuel allowance increase in the budget? Fuel is one of the first luxuries, for want of a better term, to be cut when budgetary issues take effect in family homes. What is the Minister doing about these figures in respect of low-income families?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I do not agree with the Deputy. The report was published in 2006, is out of date and has been surpassed substantially in nearly all categories by the advancements made in a range of social welfare payments. In recent years, all of the payments have increased ahead of inflation and rightly so.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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They have not.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I do not expect people to jump up and down with excitement.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The House heard from Deputy Enright about the increases in electricity and oil prices. I do not want to quote the figures again. The Government has not kept pace with those costs.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Payments made across many areas in the social welfare system have been consistently and systematically increased ahead of inflation. It is right that we have done so. The questions posed by the Deputy and many others pick out specific payments, such as the fuel allowance. However, it is my contention that it is better to give everyone something substantial instead of specifying these payments. In recent years, the increase in pension payments has been substantial and much better than increasing the fuel allowance because everyone has benefited. Some of the pensions will go towards fuel. In the previous budget, the fuel allowance increased from €14 per week to €18 per week.

It is a question of finding a balance between the different demands. When I sat with the 30 or so representative groups before the budget last year, I understood their points, but I would have needed a budget package of €4 billion or €5 billion per annum to meet all of the requirements. It comes down to choices and I assure the Deputy that my choice is to aim as many of my resources at the less well-off as I can. I did so this year and will continue to aim as many resources as I can get at budget time in that direction.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I would be happy to itemise any amount of deficiencies yielded by the budget, not least of which is the lack of an increase in the living alone allowance, which affects more older people because they comprise a high percentage of its recipients.

The Minister stated that it is a question of choices. Would he accept the choice he has made, which is the choice the Government has consistently made in the past ten years or more, has been to look after those who are financially comfortable and to abandon those in low-income categories? This is the Minister's record and is the evidence from successive budgets in which the Minister has been involved since entering the House.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's greatest achievement has been in respect of our pensioners, in whom Sinn Féin has no interest.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has abandoned them.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Minister without interruption.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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In the past ten years, it may have been the greatest singular achievement of any government in Europe. I reject the Deputy's comments entirely because we have done the opposite.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The evidence shows otherwise.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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We have actively and positively given financial resources to support people who deserve happy retirements.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I am getting the figures from the Government.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Why would one give some increases to the small living alone allowance category now when, by comparison, we have considerably improved the situations of all old age pensioners through our substantial increases, surpassing our target of €200 per week and moving towards €300 per week during the lifetime of this Government? Rather than discussing the issue, we will act.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What about the consistent poverty figures I quoted?