Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

This provision brings into line an arrangement that already replies with regard to people on jobseeker's payments or illness or injury benefit. The section brings the arrangements that apply already with regard to jobseekers into the areas I have mentioned and it only applies where somebody who has one of the benefits mentioned has a spouse or civil partner who has earnings in excess of €400 a week. If the spouse or civil partner has earnings of less than €400 a week, the claimant continues to get the half-rate qualified child allowance. If the spouse or the civil partner has earnings just slightly above €400 a week, there are a variety of alternatives which may allow them get additional income support through the Department of Social Protection. Senators should remember there is no upper limit to the amount that may be earned by the spouse or partner. In practice, we have seen from the profiles that where the spouse or the partner has a full-time job, he or she often has earnings very much in excess of the €400 per week.

One of the difficulties I and previous Ministers have been faced is that the structure of social welfare here means we have between 40 and 60 basic systems. What we are trying to do is to introduce a basic level of uniformity across the systems to make them more understandable and to ensure that people in similar categories are treated in a similar way.

Comments have been made with regard to carers who are on a carer's benefit. In many cases, the parent who is a carer is more than likely to be caring for a child of the family, the spouse or the civil partner and in that case is receiving, in addition, the domiciliary care allowance up to the age of 16. The child, in his or her own right, will also more than likely get the disability allowance.