David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I do not envy her job. I think she is one of the two outstanding Ministers of the Government, the other one being Deputy Noonan, but I do not agree with him ideologically. I would not start from there, but then again I am a socialist. In fact, I would be tending towards communism and I think it is very important to put the people first. The live register has fallen below 400,000, but that does not take emigration into account so it does not confirm that the right measures have been taken. If we look at the state of the country, the morale of the people, the general financial condition of most families and the huge amount of emigration of our most talented people, then I do not think we can congratulate ourselves on anything. We are not really exiting anything. We are going to be still in the same stranglehold with the same financial institutions and I wish them damned in hell. The people should come first.

The Minister said in her speech that young people are not best assisted by welfare payments, because work, training and education supports are much more beneficial in the long term for young job seekers, but that is not the case when these are not sufficient to get them into a job or when there are not sufficient jobs out there. This is the terrible situation. In a theoretical sense, the Minister could possibly be right if she took that point of view, which I do not. However, it is not correct to say that the cuts will create incentives for young people to take up education and training. This is the "flat screen television in Tallaght" argument in a slightly milder form. These cuts will hit 21,000 people and we have 3,250 new places, so there is a huge discrepancy involved. Therefore, it is simply not accurate to say that this will have the effect of shifting people off the register. I congratulate the Minister on halving the cuts that her Department was asked to introduce. That is why I say she is one of the best Ministers in the Government and why I do not envy her job. However, these people have already been means-tested and when they live with their parents, their parents' income is taken into account. We see from an analysis of this that it is always the low-income families that are being affected. That is something that should worry all of us, as representatives of the people.

The second issue of particular relevance is jobseeker's allowance and the single parent tax credit. We have all received letters from people on the single parent tax credit, and they are all individual cases.

We have all received a circular letter as well, which makes a series of relevant points. Very often they are prefaced with a personal story which is interesting and highlights the situation. One of them is from a man who states, "I am a single father to four amazing kids and I pay maintenance of €900 per month". He is getting €137 per month, but that is being taken from him. That is dreadful. This man is paying a very significant amount and is trying to be a good father, but he is being discriminated against. There is another from a man who says, "For years we have been an invisible class in society, our names have, in many cases, been removed from our children's lives by the stroke of a pen upon a birth certificate." The rights of single fathers must be taken into account. It will adversely affect all single, separated and divorced fathers and mothers. In addition, if a single parent's income drops below a certain level, it will mean they will be less able to do anything for their children. It is also likely to create further tension between separated parents if they squabble over this. There is a human development as far as this is concerned.

There is also the issue of the Equal Status Act. I have been briefed that research from Trinity College points to the fact that in 97% of separation cases in the State, the courts deem the child's mother to be the primary carer, even in cases of 50:50 access. That is another anomaly. In terms of the language, some people feel quite sensitive about the idea of being a secondary carer. I know what is meant by that, but there might be another way around it. Finally, another person begs that we:

"Do what is right for our dignity and our children. €2,500 is not worth tearing apart our relationships. It is soul destroying.

I have two other questions for the Minister. One is about the illness benefit. The Bill doubles the time one must wait before claiming from three to six days. That means people on very low incomes must try to put together a float of a week's wage to carry them over. This is worrying.

The final matter is very important. I was briefed on it by Focus Ireland, a wonderful organisation. It is concerned about the impact of the reduction in the social welfare rate for people under 25 years of age. It believes this might lead to an increase in homelessness among young people. It calculates that approximately 200 people will be affected, which is a small number, but in times of devastation in their lives, it is a problem. Homelessness at an early age often leads to chronic homelessness. Perhaps the Minister might contact Focus Ireland to seek a further briefing on this and to see if some accommodation could be reached.

I will conclude on the telephone scheme. I was amazed to hear that the telephone benefit is being removed, particularly in light of the current situation where elderly people throughout the country are being attacked. Many of them only have landlines and they might not find mobile phones easy to use, even if they could afford them. This is such a mean-minded measure. I would probably be eligible for it now, although I have never applied for it and do not want it. I do not believe in taking things I can afford to pay for myself. However, my heart bleeds for the two old ladies in Donegal, one of whom was hauled out of her bed, banged on the head and left on the floor. Without a telephone such people are completely vulnerable.