Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and welcome the Social Welfare Bill. The Minister has done an excellent job in the package he has brought forward. There is a total increase of €874 million, giving a budget of more than €12 billion for the Department. Anyone listening to the debate on the Order of Business this morning would imagine the Government does not care at all about the elderly. The Minister has shown his concern for the elderly and the most vulnerable in society in the way he has put this package together.

I was glad to see the changes in the carer's allowance. This scheme has improved immensely over the years. We all remember when the carer had to live in the same house as the elderly person and could not undertake work outside the House. I supported a constituent who went to the Ombudsman because he could not work on his farm behind the house as he had to be in the house 24 hours a day to look after the person. That regulation has been relaxed and improved every year. The social welfare officers take a liberal and fair view of carers and there are opportunities for them to take up employment or get involved in education and other courses.

If there are improvements in the carer's allowance, there must also be improvements in household conditions for the carer and the care recipient. Schemes for housing repairs operated by the local authorities often allow for a grant of €2,000 for improvements but the applicant must come up with €1,000 himself. That is not as easy as it sounds. The health board scheme is much better, where a contractor is engaged to do all the work and if there is contribution to be made, it is as little as €200. I was pleasantly surprised recently to discover that an applicant for a housing repair grant in County Galway who was asked to pay €1,000 had learned a year later that the health board reduced that contribution to €300.

Various Ministers have introduced many schemes over the years. I have always been intrigued by the free travel scheme, which is sometimes not of any use to people. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, was heavily involved in the rural transport initiative when he was Minister for Transport. I was present when he launched the rural transport scheme, which is of great benefit, in south-east Galway. It is important that buses are now available to bring people to catch trains or Bus Éireann buses. Schemes should suit people living in all areas, but the conventional free travel scheme does not always do so. A similar problem used to arise in respect of ESB units, which were not always available when they were most needed, particularly in winter.

I wish to highlight the problems faced by widows and widowers, who comprise one of the many groups of people who meet to discuss the issues affecting them, as I am sure the Minister is aware. I am amazed that such bodies do not receive as much help as people on other benefits. A farmer I know in County Galway reared five children, between the ages of two and 13, after his wife died 22 years ago. He has not received any help from the Department in the past 22 years. He was told that he would exceed the means test for a widower's pension because he has a dairy quota of a certain size. He was unfortunate because he started to pay his contributions in 1986, four years after his wife died. He will not receive a contributory pension until next year, when he will be 66. I am amazed that he was not given a retirement pension when he reached the age of 65 last June.

It seems to me that the problem is that while pensioners receive pro rata pensions, such pensions are not given to those who receive widow's or widower's allowances. I ask the Minister to examine this matter. We have been very supportive of pensioners. We have allowed pre-1953 contributions and contributions from Great Britain and other EU countries to be added on. That has been an effective way of ensuring that pensioners receive pro rata pensions.

Means testing arrangements have improved as a result of changes in old age pension provisions and other disability allowances. There have been good increases in schemes such as farm assist, which is a very good scheme. The Minister for Finance has ensured that it has been of great help. I would like to discuss an initiative I think I have clarified with the Department. Concern was expressed that the special savings incentive account scheme, which is an excellent scheme, might cause difficulties for people when they were being means tested. The Minister has dealt with cases of people who have no other income. That is useful because it can be difficult to tell people that a scheme of this nature, which one has endorsed, might work against them, for example by causing them to lose some or all of their payments.

The Minister might feel that people are disappointed when they receive a small pension or a small unemployment assistance payment. Those who receive unemployment assistance or farm assist payments of €4 or €5 can qualify for the community employment scheme or the new rural social scheme as a result. We should not forget that people are often happy to receive a small payment if it helps them to participate in a scheme that helps them to improve themselves. Newspaper headlines often state that certain applicants have been given just €5 or €6. While such payments are small, they are often stepping stones to allow people to become involved in a particular scheme under which good work can be done.

I welcome the comments of Senators. I hope the Minister will continue his reform of the social welfare regime. We look forward to next year, when some of the issues being addressed in the Seanad might be tackled by the Minister.