Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He has hit the ground running and is doing a good job. I welcome the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill which is the first positive indication that the ship of state is being refloated and the country is being turned around. We saw an indication of that in the Finance Bill also, where from 1 January people will get some tax back and an increase in their take-home pay.

The improvements in the Bill are modest, but I welcome the fact that €72 million in additional funding is being made available for child benefit. While the increase is €5 per month, it is an indication that the Government takes the issue of child and family poverty seriously. I take on board many of the issues raised by Senators Zappone and van Turnhout on child poverty and the need for the Government to do more to address it. I support strongly a second pre-school year for kids, as there is a real opportunity there to lay a solid foundation and provide a good educational start. I encourage the Minister of State to fight hard to have resources made available to introduce a second pre-school year next year if at all possible. We would all be happy to come up with suggestions as to where funds could be found or savings made to facilitate that.

I welcome the reinstatement of 25% of the Christmas bonus. We would have liked to see a greater restoration but it is a good start. I have a query, however. A constituent approached me last Friday in Ballinasloe who asked why, notwithstanding the fact that he had been on disability allowance for about ten years, he had not qualified for the Christmas bonus. Did he give me incorrect information, or is there a particular issue? He assured me he has been in receipt of disability allowance for ten years but was not entitled to the bonus.

I support much of what Senator Feargal Quinn said on incentives and encouragement to return to work. The only way to address poverty is to facilitate everyone who wishes to work to find gainful employment. I welcome very much the significant level of job creation we have seen but would love us to be in a situation where as many citizens as possible could be offered meaningful and gainful employment. I wonder often why there are families where no one has worked for two or three generations and whose members never appear to be asked to participate in a community employment or FÁS scheme. How does that continue to be the case? There is an issue there that we need to address. I welcome very much the back to work family dividend, which is providing up to €1,550 per child in the first year of employment or self-employment. It is a real incentive. I am glad the self-employed are being considered in this regard. Many self-employed people lost their jobs through no fault of their own at the end of the boom and are beginning to pick themselves up and create employment, including, in some situations, employment for another person also.

This morning, I was at a very enjoyable function where Mr. Magnus McFarlane-Barrow was honoured. He is the founder of Mary's Meals, which provides a meal at school for approximately 1 million people in developing countries across the world. I welcome the increase in the school meals fund by €2 million in the budget. Unfortunately, many children in our own country come to school without having eaten a meal. In many cases, the only real food they get in the course of the day is what they get at school. There are issues there and in many cases it is not because there are inadequate resources going into the house but rather because of poor parenting. We need to look at that issue also and perhaps apply funding to addressing it.

The general thrust of the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill is welcome. It is a good start and we all welcome the fact that things are improving within the country. We still have a long way to go and are still borrowing a great deal of money to meet our day-to-day commitments. I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment and wish him well during the remainder of the term of office of the Government.