Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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98. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of recipients of jobseeker's allowance or jobseeker's benefit who will not receive either a Christmas bonus or a water support payment next year. [41715/14]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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This question seeks to gauge whether the Minister is fully aware of the hardship water charges will wreak on households and if she appreciates the gross inadequacy of the measures she announced in the recent budget.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I understand the question relates to the Christmas bonus.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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It also refers to water support payments.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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May I deal with the first part of the question, which relates to the Christmas bonus?

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Yes.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Christmas bonus, which was paid each year in the period from 1980 to 2008, inclusive, was abolished by the previous Fianna Fáil-led Government in 2009. I am pleased that I am partially restoring the bonus this year, with the result that a bonus of 25% will be paid in early December to more than 1.1 million recipients, including all long-term welfare recipients, such as pensioners, carers and long-term jobseekers. I am taking this initiative in recognition of the fact that most social welfare recipients rely either wholly or mainly on their weekly payment.

The Christmas bonus this year will be paid to the beneficiaries of all schemes to which it previously applied, including schemes previously administered by other organisations such as the community employment scheme. Short-term jobseekers who have been on the live register for less than 15 months were never eligible for the bonus and this condition will continue to apply this year. It is estimated that approximately 304,000 jobseekers will receive a weekly payment at the end of November. Of this number, some 79% or 212,000 people will receive the 25% bonus at an estimated cost of €10.4 million.

I announced in budget 2015 that recipients of both the household benefits package and-or the fuel allowance will also receive an annual environmental water support payment of €100. This will benefit 650,000 households at an annual cost of approximately €66 million. Other households will benefit from the tax credit of €100 announced in the budget.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister's time for this question has expired.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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As Deputy Ó Fearghaíl noted, approximately 150,000 people - as many as 190,000 according to some estimates - took to the streets last weekend to say "No" to water charges. I have no doubt that these protests put the fear of God into the Government. The marchers included young and old people, the unemployed, people who depend on social welfare and people in employment, all of whom were united in their opposition to the Government's water charges. Their message was that water charges are unfair, they cannot pay them and they should not be asked to pay them.

The question asks how many of those who depend on social welfare payments will not benefit from either the Christmas bonus or the water support payment. While the Minister did not answer this part of the question, I estimate the number involved to be approximately 200,000 people.

Thus far, the Government's response to the demands of the people in respect of water charges has been to admit it got the issue a little wrong and state it had experienced problems with its communications. That is not good enough. Is the Minister aware that even if she were to extend the water support payment and tax relief announced in the budget to a greater number of people, it would only be a matter of time before these measures were withdrawn and the charges hiked? Is it reasonable to assume that once water charges have been introduced, they will be increased?

That will impose a greater burden on those households which come under the remit of the Minister, namely, those who will be in receipt of social welfare in the years ahead. If she does not think that will happen, why would she refer to a freeze in the first place?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The social welfare package in this budget is the first since the fatal bank guarantee introduced by the previous Government to benefit very significant numbers of people. The restoration, on a partial basis, of the Christmas bonus has been very widely welcomed by the 1.1 million people who will benefit. One of the reasons for the different numbers quoted by the Deputy is that water charges are a household matter, whereas the Christmas bonus is a question of payment to individuals, many of whom may reside in the same household. In terms of the figures quoted by the Deputy, there is probably some confusion between individuals and household numbers.

Let us be very clear. Every man, woman and child in the country needs a supply of clean drinking water. As a country, we need to invest at least €600 million a year for the next three years in water services and thereafter we need to invest at a rate of about €1 billion a year. This time last year, pubs and restaurants in the Dublin region were about to close down because the capital of the country did not have enough water to supply all the people living in the city. We know about the situation in different parts of the country, such as when Galway could not provide drinking water for its population a number of years ago because of cryptosporidium. The objective of providing a supply of quality clean water for individuals, businesses, industrial development, tourism and agriculture is important.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Minister accept that her Government's water charge will exceed the miserly social welfare increases announced in budget 2015? Does she intend to increase the so-called water support payment to cover the full cost of water charges for those dependent on social welfare? Does she intend to introduce the equivalent support for the low paid? If these things are not done, everything she has said means that those in our society who are low paid or dependent on social welfare will be less well off after the budget and as a consequence of the water tax.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If the Deputy reads the analysis on people being better or less well off, he will find it has been my concern in the budget to ensure that 80,000 people are lifted out of the universal social charge. The two lower rates of the universal social charge, which mostly apply to the people on lower pay to whom the Deputy referred, have been reduced by half a percentage point each. That of course benefits everybody else. When those on low pay get their wage packets, slips and statements in January and February they will see a very significant saving in regard to the USC, the first in a long line of budgets. I would like it to be more, but it is a start. Some 1.1 million of those living exclusively on a social welfare income on a long-term basis will receive in the first half of December a Christmas bonus of a quarter of the weekly rate.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The water charge will take it away in January.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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That has been widely welcomed.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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They are giving out a fiver.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy's suggestion is that somehow or other the payments to people in the budget are not significant.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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They will have to pay more. The payments are not significant if more money is being taken from them.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Tánaiste should conclude, I must move on to other questions.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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For instance, in the first week of January parents will receive an additional €5 per month per child. I understand the Deputy might not welcome improvements in social welfare payments but I must confess that I am disappointed that Sinn Féin is so negative about increased payments to people on social welfare who need and welcome those payments.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I always welcome improved social welfare payments. I would laugh except it is not funny. The payment is being given with one hand, but taken away with the other.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I understand, and we are making provision for extra income for people on social welfare. The Deputy is just a bit sour.