Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I am fundamentally opposed to the section as it stands. I appeal to the Minister of State to look with reason at the amendments we have withdrawn and which we propose to resubmit on Report Stage. The household tax will be imposed on every house in the country. As we discussed yesterday, this is not a fair means of taxation. A charge of €100 is being imposed on a large high-value house as well as on a smaller house with a lower value, the home of an elderly person or a person in receipt of social welfare or a medical card. We want exemptions for all medical card-holders. Approximately 400,000 people are in receipt of medical cards and this probably equates to approximately 150,000 households. The jobseeker's benefit was affected in the budget because the six day-period of payment has been reduced to five days. This will have a knock-on effect. Even Sunday working is now brought into the mix as part of the earnings and this will affect the social welfare entitlement of a person on jobseeker's benefit.

I refer to a person in receipt of jobseeker's benefit for three days a week who contacted me by phone. He is working three days a week, he has a large family and he is struggling to cope. He will lose substantially as a result of the changes from six days to five days. He also has a part-time Sunday job.

The supplementary welfare allowance is paid when an individual is awaiting the outcome of a social welfare appeal. Such people should be exempted from payment of the household charge. Approximately 35,000 individuals are currently appealing the refusal of a social welfare benefit and in some instances such individuals are not entitled to supplementary welfare allowance. These individuals should be exempt from payment of the household charge. The farm assist scheme was also reduced in the budget. This scheme is very important to small farmers. The assessment of means for self-employment, including farming, is being raised from 70% to 85%. The deductions from income for children are being halved to €127 per year for each of the first two dependent children and €190 per year for each subsequent child. Poor farmers will find it more difficult to access the €188 per week of farm assist payment. The farm family income supplement supports families and recipients should be exempted from payment of the household charge.

Recipients of non-contributory pension, in particular, elderly people who do not have an occupational pension, have been affected negatively in the budget because they have lost approximately €120 from the fuel allowance scheme. If such people also have to pay the household charge, the net loss to those families will be €220 per year. It would be a step too far to include such pensioners. I welcome the fact that the budget did not impose cuts on weekly payments but on investigation it is clear that cuts will affect everyone in receipt of social welfare payments. There is no need to speak about the disability allowance because we all know what has happened. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, outlined on Second Stage of the Social Welfare Bill in the Dáil that she will remove the provisions in the Bill to reduce the disability allowance for those aged between 16 and 24 years. This was the right action to take but she should have had the social conscience to know the effect of such a provision. I refer to the front page of the Irish Examiner this morning which reports on a disabled individual whose payment would have been reduced from €188 to €100 and this person was born without limbs.