Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. It is a better time to be the Minister for Social Protection than has been the case for the past five years. We must remember and listen to the contributions earlier from those who crashed and burned the country through light-touch regulation but who are so critical now. They have forgotten the damage they did to the country when they call for reinstatement in this regard. It has been a long, difficult struggle by the citizens of the country to achieve the recovery we have. We must ensure it is spent in the proper manner with vision.

Many people who were in their late 30s and early 40s between 2008 and 2011 lost their jobs and still have not had an opportunity to return to employment. We must show vision regarding them. While the Minister has not dealt with them directly in the social welfare budget, Tús, Gateway and the CE schemes all played an important role during the economic emergency.It is time to re-examine them, however, and determine how we can provide training and supports so people can re-engage with the workforce. People who are now in their late 40s and 50s are anxious to participate in society and the economy. To continue running the likes of Tús and Gateway, with little or no training, is questionable.

We also need to examine community employment schemes. During the crisis, the materials and training budgets had to be reduced. We now need to look at these again and determine how we can support so many training areas so people can re-engage in employment.

The Minister increased the number of places on the rural social scheme by 500, which was widely welcomed in rural areas. He stipulated a maximum of three years of participation. I would like to see a much more visionary scheme developed to try to ensure people on the rural social scheme are not trapped in poverty. Many people who participate on the scheme do so very early in their lives, in their 20s and 30s. I refer to the original 2,600. They would have participated on rural social schemes all the way through their working lives. This is a actually a poverty trap. The participants on rural social schemes are playing a very important role in their communities, including in the GAA, TidyTowns and several other areas. They are kept on a minimal wage, however, and it is very difficult for them to move on. I ask the Minister to develop a vision in respect of people trapped on welfare and availing of various welfare supports.

It is important to recognise communities are supported but it is also important to recognise some of the jobs are actually real jobs. We should actually be paying a real wage for those jobs that support communities so as not to leave the employees trapped on various social welfare schemes. On many occasions when travelling around the country, I have seen people trapped in various schemes and finding it very difficult to move on.

We need a little bit of vision. Now that the economy is in a better place, we should invest in people who have been trapped on social welfare and allow them to grow and participate in the economic growth happening right across the country. I ask the Minister to examine this.

I commend the Minister on the increase of €5.7 million for the school meals programme. Could he target this as much as possible at those who need it most? The Minister might already have thought a little about where the money will be spent. There was a lot of criticism of the last budget in regard to the €366 in respect of older people and those on pensions. In fact, Fianna Fáil attacked this strongly, saying it was an insult, miserable and miserly. In the 2010 budget, the figure was €240.60. The leader of the Fianna Fáil group was complimentary about that and referred to the programme for Government in this regard. Certainly, the difference between the €336 in the most recent budget and the €240.60 is such that I question it.

We need to have some vision in regard to child poverty in order to tackle it. I was disappointed that the six payments paid directly to families and young children have seen no increase. In future budgets, we must target children in poverty and ensure we can make a substantial impact. With regard to budgets, I do not believe the funding should be spread like margarine, thinly across a large area. We now have money coming on stream and we must targeted it at the most disadvantaged.I would like to see the six payments that have seen no increase be strategically targeted in the next social welfare budget so that we can quickly move as many children out of poverty as possible.

There has been an increase of 500 in the number of places on the rural social scheme. Many artists have struggled during the recession. This year, we have spoken eloquently about our artists, paraded them on trade missions, etc. However, many are disadvantaged in terms of social welfare. Will the Minister examine whether there is a mechanism whereby artists can be assisted to grow, especially those at the beginning of their careers?

The Minister might revert to me on my next point. The increase in the Christmas bonus is welcome, but from where do the funds for that increase come? Are we using the national training scheme budget? We must be targeted and consider where the money is being found within the current social welfare budget.