Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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3. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has carried out an analysis of the impact cuts in welfare payments have had on women; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9550/15]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Will the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection indicate whether her Department has undertaken a gender analysis of the impact of the cuts in social welfare payments that have taken place in recent years?

Has there been any study of the impact in particular on women, because it would seem that the axe is falling disproportionately on women, who tend to have responsibility for children?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection recently published a social impact assessment of the main tax and social welfare measures for 2015, based on the ESRI tax-welfare model, SWITCH. The analysis found there is no difference in the risk-of-poverty rate for men and women as a result of the last budget.

The ESRI, on foot of a commission from the Equality Authority, has examined the impact of policy changes on men and women over the period 2009 to 2013. The findings were published last October in a report called the Gender Impact of Tax and Benefit Changes. The report analyses the effects on disposable income due to changes to public sector pay, tax, PRSI and welfare payments.

The average loss for all households over this period was 9.6% of disposable income. Less than a fifth of the reduction in disposable income can be attributed to welfare changes, while three fifths of the reduction in disposable income can be attributed to taxation or PRSI changes and obviously the introduction of the USC. The remainder of the reduction in disposable income was caused by reductions in public sector pay. The report found that retired single people experienced a loss of 4.5% in disposable income over the period. However, social welfare changes over the period resulted in a slight increase in disposable income of 0.1%, with the same impact for men and women.

Single people without children experienced an average loss in disposable income of 9.5%. Welfare changes resulted in a 1.4% loss in disposable income for women, which was slightly lower than the 1.6% loss for men. Female lone parents experienced an overall loss of 9.1% of which welfare changes accounted for 4.4%. Households headed by couples experienced, on average, an 11.9% reduction in disposable income. Separate research conducted on behalf of the Department by Dorothy Watson of the ESRI suggests that in Ireland, income is shared fully across couple households, meaning that any loss of income and hence change in living standards is likely to be equally shared across the household. As the adults in that household would consist significantly of a man and a woman, the effects are shared equally.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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This would be laughable if it was not so serious. I will outline a list of the cuts the Tánaiste has introduced that would primarily fall on women. The cuts to child benefit mainly hit women. It has been cut by €10 to €130 for the first and second child and by €18 for the third child and subsequent children so a large family will be hit even more. The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance has been cut. There have been rent allowance cuts and we know it is primarily single women who are facing homelessness. The fuel allowance has been cut from 32 to 27 weeks. Maternity pay has been cut.

Single-parent organisations and all in this House have told the Tánaiste that one-parent family cuts are hitting women. Some 90% of lone parents are women and 34% of births are to single mothers. Therefore a huge impact falls on women from these cuts which the Tánaiste has started and which she is talking about continuing. One-parent families headed by women are twice as likely to be in poverty. How can the Tánaiste possibly argue that these cuts will not further increase the feminisation of poverty, which has accelerated under this Government?

I ask the Tánaiste to keep her remarks to the social welfare cuts about which I asked rather than talking about the impact of the recent budget on couples.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy's question asked whether an analysis had been done and I have told her it is available. She can access it in the Oireachtas Library.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I asked about social welfare cuts.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The ESRI has carried out an analysis of what has happened. If the Deputy thinks about this she might appreciate what I am saying. One of the most significant cohorts of women who get income support from social welfare are women who are on the State retirement pension, either contributory or non-contributory. Some 34% of all spending on social welfare goes to people who have retired and are on the State retirement contributory or non-contributory pensions, and widow's and widower's pensions.

The actuarial review of the Social Insurance Fund, which was last done in 2012, showed that the fund provides much better value to female rather than to male contributors. The at-risk-of-poverty rate of the very significant group of women who are retirees and on State pension is below 2%. The reduction of their at-risk-of-poverty rate, as with lone parents, because of social welfare transfers is among the highest in the European Union, at 60%.

The social welfare system, whether at pension age for people who have retired or for people of working age such as lone parents, is a huge protector against poverty because of the transfers made from people at work to people who are on social welfare.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I do not know if the Tánaiste has read the report, Women, Austerity and Inequality, by Ursula Barry and Pauline Conroy, commissioned by the National Women’s Council of Ireland and TASC. I do not know what figures the Tánaiste is plucking out of the air but I will outline for her a few conclusions from this report. It concluded that equality was cast aside as a marginal issue in the big picture of crisis, and that lone parents, the low paid and poor were special targets for raising cash to recapitalise the banks. I do not have time to expand on this in the 30 seconds I have left, but the Tánaiste might read the report.

People know what is in their pockets. The Tánaiste broke two promises that the Labour Party made in the last general election campaign. It has imposed child benefit cuts. It promised that it would not introduce the one-parent family cut for seven-year olds unless there was a Scandinavian-style child care. The Tánaiste said that last July, but is going ahead regardless. She spoke earlier about after-school clubs. They cost money and whatever scheme the Government has set up, the clubs are available in only a very few schools. The idea that women can just leave their seven-year old children to become "latchkey kids", as it is termed, to bail out the banks is disgraceful. Those children already have only one parent in the home with them and Deputy Tuffy thinks that children can mind themselves from 1.30 p.m. until 6 p.m. The Labour Party has stooped to an incredible low in its attack on women.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy clearly has a difficulty in accepting the work that has been done by the ESRI or the actuarial review of the Social Insurance Fund, which shows that women get the best value. The Deputy's question asked about an analysis regarding social welfare. I am telling her what the reports are showing. She needs to study them. They are not my reports, they are independent reports.

I take issue with the Deputy on this point. In January I was very happy on behalf of the Labour Party and on behalf of Fine Gael in this Government to be able to increase child benefit by €5 a month per child. I do not know if she has taken that into account in her calculations.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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The Tánaiste took away €10 the previous year.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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That is why the budget analysis that the Department commissioned shows that this budget has benefited families with children, including lone parents, because as the Deputy knows, child benefit is a universal payment that is generally paid to the mother. It is paid to people regardless of whether they are in work or out of work. I would have thought the Deputy would have welcomed the improvement in child benefit. As the economy progresses and as people go back to work, we hope to repeat the measure in this year's budget for next year.