Don Lydon (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House. He always makes an impact when he comes here and on a previous occasion, he gained the everlasting admiration of 99.9% of Senators present.

The projected figure for spending on social welfare next year of €13.5 billion is one which I cannot even imagine. It is a phenomenal amount of money. Some have said that money would be available no matter who was in Government but I do not believe that for a second. As Senator Walsh has just said, good planning and good government contributes to the coffers, as do good taxation policies.

The Minister has a lot of money to spend in his Department. Having read the budget, the Minister's speech and the Social Welfare Bill, I believe the Minister has managed to spend that money wisely. He has used the money at his disposal to help the greatest number of people possible. Anybody can pick a hole in a Bill such as this and ask why the Minister did not help person X more, but he has to divide the money as best he can. I am pleased the Minister has placed special emphasis on the elderly and made a point of doing so.

As I said in last night's debate on the same subject, if one gets up in the morning to find a baby on one's doorstep, one will mind it, care for it or have it adopted. However, if it is an old person on one's doorstep, one is not so keen to help. Thousands of elderly people have been abandoned by their families and are living alone with nobody to mind them. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul does a great job in that regard, but these people need as much help from the State as they can get. These are people who have put their lives into this State, as the Minister said in his speech. It does not matter what job they had, they have all done something, whether it be caring in the home, raising a family or working here and abroad. All of them have given something for 60 or 65 years. They are entitled to something back and the Minister has done his best in that regard in this budget.

The raising of the limits for the old age contributory and non-contributory pension is welcome. So too is the Minister's commitment to giving people a decent pension. Other aspects, including alleviating poverty, increasing fuel allowances and so forth, are very important. If one is not poor or old, one does not realise what such a life is like. However, I visit some of these people and every increase they get from the Minister is much appreciated. We would like to give everybody €1,000 per week but that is not possible or practical. However, the Minister's commitment to increase the pension to €200 per week is a laudable one and we are almost there. I believe the pension will reach that figure under the Minister's tenure.

The Minister has often spoken of his commitment to decent pensions. However, people should not have to retire at 65 and the Government is coming around to this point of view. I have seen many people who have had to retire at 65, policemen have to do so at 57, despite their enormous talent and a lifetime of experience and expertise. They turn 65 and the following day they have no job. They get a pension, retire, travel around and so forth but their expertise is lost to the State.

There is so much talent that could be tapped into. People who were engineers, teachers and so on, have learned something and their expertise does not disappear just because they have reached a certain age. The idea, introduced by a German emperor some time ago when life expectancy was very poor, that we should retire at a certain age has been pooh-poohed. If one looks at the number of people who have got on in life and succeeded, one will find that as they grew older, their faculties did not diminish. Judges do not have to retire until they are 75 though some seem to have retired earlier. The Minister should consider availing of the talent that people have even as they pass the age of 65 years.

I do not want to speak for very long for two reasons. First, the Bill is flawless and I compliment the Minister on it. Second, I have a good lunch waiting and it would be wrong to delay it further. I commend the Bill to the House.