Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I compliment the Minister for Social and Family Affairs on the many increases provided for in the Bill. Increases have been provided in the past several years which have made a difference to many people on social welfare benefits. I recognise the work the Minister has done in this area since he took up his portfolio.

The moneys are available to the Minister to achieve these increases. In a time of plenty, it is only right that it is done, particularly for those most in need. Many on social welfare still struggle on the money available because various increases in benefits are wiped out by rises in, for example, the cost of fuel, electricity or general prices. Many people still live in poverty despite the improvements made in social welfare payments.

In some cases it is down to how people manage their money. Unfortunately, many of those dependent on social welfare benefits have a myriad of problems such as unemployment, drug or drink problems or simply being unable to cope with a household budget. More community work needs to be done to assist this group so that children do not go hungry and money is not spent on drink or drugs.

Some residents have been staying in the homeless unit on Clanbrassil Street in Dublin for three years or more. I know of one family with three children in the unit living in one bedroom and sharing communal facilities. To expect a family to survive in that type of atmosphere is unacceptable. Such families need to get out of homeless units as quickly as possible. I can understand using the units as a short-term solution to homelessness but not for the long term. A welfare officer or social worker visits the Clanbrassil Street unit occasionally. Across the State many children live in such units which warrants a full-time child care worker being assigned to them. Will the Minister ensure a child care worker is assigned full-time to homeless units?

The Bill recognises the role of carers. Those who already had a social welfare benefit but were precluded from availing of the carer's allowance can now receive half of the carer's allowance. This will be of great assistance to elderly people looking after a spouse or son or daughter. That is really good. The increase in the family income supplement is welcome, as well as the increase in the child dependant allowance. The Minister is trying to assist the poorest of the poor and is working towards a two tier system. That is where we should be going because some children and families are poorer than others and they need additional help. More should be done for them in the coming years.

There has been an increase in qualified adult allowance. I thank the Minister for recognising that, at last, women should be acknowledged in their own right and receive a pension in their own name. We have been calling for that for many years. Why is the Minister waiting until September to introduce it? I accept the Minister plans to introduce legislation but this involves only a simple legislative change. Perhaps he is including it with the lone parents proposal. However, could he not introduce the change more quickly? I am happy it is being done but it should be done before September.

On Second Stage in the Dáil the Minister said, with regard to the qualified adult allowance, that women will get their allowances directly and in their own names but they may choose not to do that. The Minister did not say that in the Seanad this morning and I prefer the way he phrased it today. No loophole should be left whereby a woman might feel under pressure not to take her pension in her own name. The Minister's phrasing this morning is far more definite. A woman will get the pension in her own name. Let there be no question that there might be a choice that she will not take it. We know some women, generally older, who will be under pressure to leave it as a joint payment. The wording presented this morning should be the definitive version.

I welcome the increases in the death benefit payments. People are still under pressure in providing child care. The Government is tackling the child care issue through various benefits for children. However, families are still struggling to meet child care costs. It is a deterrent for many women returning to the workforce when they cannot meet those costs.

The fuel allowance has doubled in the past two years but the increases are small. They are wiped out by the increase in the price of coal, briquettes, gas and electricity, despite the Minister's decision to allocate additional units. It is still quite difficult for some people to access the fuel allowance. It is not available for everybody. Access to the scheme should be easier in order that more people will be covered by it. I heard recently about an elderly woman who lives alone and who goes to bed early every night to save on her electricity costs. Older people are still worried about keeping warm and the cost of doing so.

When the Minister was first appointed I had great hopes he would tackle the issue of private pensions. Several reports on the matter have been produced. The Minister said he would think the unthinkable and take on the industry but I have seen no sign of that yet. I am a little disappointed. Perhaps he will take on the industry in the Green Paper. I have written to the Minister, the Department and the Pensions Board about this but many of my questions have been unanswered. I get a standard reply acknowledging receipt of my letter and stating that the Minister will be in contact with me. However, I do not get any detailed answers, which is disappointing.

When one considers the tax relief for the pensions industry which the Government foregoes, we are not getting value for money. This issue must be tackled. Some of my questions related to value for money. In addition, I have not yet been able to get an answer from the Minister as to whether he believes it is constitutional to compel people to join occupational pension schemes where there is no guarantee of benefits.

He also does not know how many people are receiving frozen pension benefits. After 20 years in retirement, a private sector pensioner with frozen benefits receives less than one third of the income of his public sector counterpart. The Minister also cannot say how many people are not claiming an occupational pension benefit despite paying into the scheme for years. The pensions ombudsman told the committee on social and family affairs that there are people, and they number in the thousands, who have paid into schemes but when they reached retirement, they did not receive their benefits. There should be a campaign to highlight this issue. It might be 30, 40 or 50 years since they worked and paid into schemes but they should be reminded to claim those benefits. The industry does not let them know they are entitled to them.

Finally, I have raised questions about the tax free lump sum. I believe we are getting bad value for money with that. It is different for the public sector worker, who gets the tax free lump sum as well as his or her pension. When the private sector worker takes out the tax free lump sum it comes out of his or her pension, thus reducing the income stream. The computation used by the industry to provide that lump sum gives bad value for money. Many issues must be dealt with in the Green Paper and I hope some of the matters I have raised will be addressed in it.