Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House once again. Dealing with the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill usually gives the opportunity not simply to reflect on the matters contained in the Bill but also to discuss some of the issues affecting the Department of Social and Family Affairs that need urgent consideration. I appreciate the very difficult economic times in which we find ourselves. The ESRI report published today shows the challenges the Department will face in the next 12 months or two years. The level of social welfare spending that will be necessary to respond to the economic crisis will be huge. It will be a challenge for the Minister to secure sufficient funding from the Department of Finance. There is also a challenge to society to respond to the stresses and pressures that will come in particular on families who are experiencing poverty perhaps for the first time.

The non-payment of the Christmas bonus has been the cause of much public debate and concern. We are all aware that for many, particularly the elderly, the Christmas bonus was seen as integral to their financial package for the year and there is upset, disappointment and concern at its removal. The Minister indicated that should sufficient savings be made under other headings within her Department's budget she would be in a position to review the matter. I hope those savings can be made and she will be in a position to reinstate the bonus, which would be very much welcomed by the majority of people not just here in the Oireachtas but also in the wider population.

On the previous occasion the Minister was in the House I spoke about the carer's allowance schemes operated by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. I expressed my disappointment that the progress the Department made for a number of years under the stewardship of the late Séamus Brennan appears to have come to a halt. The late Minister was very generous in his response to carers. He made significant improvements to means testing by increasing the income disregard. He certainly ensured that a significant number of additional people qualified for carer's allowance. I appreciate where the Minister is coming from financially, but we need to continue to work to improve carer's allowance. We need to reflect further on what the former Minister was working on. Certainly he indicated here on a few occasions that he was sympathetic to the possibility of removing the financial means test for carers and providing the full carer's allowance for full-time carers of people in need of full-time care. The figures presented here some years ago by Mr. Brennan were relatively modest. I hope this is a matter the Minister will consider. While I appreciate the financial position in which the Government finds itself, there are certain sectors in which we must continue to make efforts to improve society and care of the elderly is very much towards the top of my agenda in that regard. The carer's allowance scheme, which works very well, needs to be reviewed and expanded.

I presume the Minister for Health and Children will finalise the fair deal nursing home scheme at some stage in the near future. Under that scheme the taxpayer will still foot a considerable proportion of the bill. Under the carer's allowance there is a much better equation financially and from a societal point of view. We can allow the maximum number of people to remain in their own homes and communities if we can expand on the carer's allowance scheme. I hope the Minister will give some policy consideration to the matter. At the kernel of improving the carer's allowance would be the abolition of the means test, making a bold statement of where we stand as a society, that we are willing to support those people who support the elderly in their own homes and communities. I hope we can return to that debate again.

I appreciate the changes in the rent supplement scheme are causing some confusion and concern to people. However, I accept that rents in the current economic climate should be reducing substantially and therefore the Department would hope that less rent allowance per applicant would be sufficient. It is important to ensure rent allowance is paid as quickly as possible. I came across a few cases recently where people on rent allowance had to change accommodation. They found it difficult to move seamlessly from accommodation A to accommodation B without their rent allowance being cut off and having to reapply for it. They then had to get the arrears sorted out. The State does not gain, but the applicant suffers over a month or six weeks without receiving the supplement. We must try to resolve those anomalies.

I am aware the Minister is attempting to address the need for sufficient staff in local offices to deal with claims. Sadly, unemployment benefit claims will go through the roof over the course of the next two years, but we must try to ensure that those claims are processed and paid as quickly as possible. That will require staffing improvements.