Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are happy to support the Social Welfare Bill. The aim of this Bill is primarily to give legislative effect to a range of increases in social welfare payments announced in budget 2018. Fianna Fáil will be supporting this Bill, but we will be bringing forward a number of amendments. Deputy O'Dea was successful in the Dáil yesterday in bringing forward an amendment to section 8 to insert the following: "The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall review the operation of the Working Family Payment, including the requirement that you must be working 19 hours per week, 38 hours per fortnight, to qualify for the payment, and shall bring forward a report to the Committee on Social Protection on same within six months of this Bill being enacted."

He was also successful in bringing forward an amendment on page 13, after line 38, to insert the following: "The Minister will publish the report on the effects of the 2012 pension bands and rates changes immediately after it has been considered by the Cabinet." The third amendment he was successful in bringing forward was on page 13, after line 38, to insert the following: "The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall review the impact of removing income generated from rent-a-room relief from the means test for those in receipt of the one-parent family payment and shall bring forward a report on the same within six months of this Bill being enacted."

While budget 2018 was far from perfect and contained only modest gains for those on low and fixed incomes, Fianna Fáil through its influence and determination to create a fairer Ireland, ensured that it was at least a step in the right direction. We are proud to have once again secured a €5 per week increase in the State pension. This is the second year in a row that Fianna Fáil has secured such an increase resulting in State pensions rising by a total of €10.We also welcome the €5 increase in other weekly payments and the increase in the qualified child payment. This Bill gives effect to these increases. We also welcome that this Bill extends entitlement to maternity benefit and maternity leave in cases of premature births. This is a welcome measure and will provide a degree of comfort to mothers in what is a very stressful situation.

This Bill, however, does not deal with the issue of pension equality, which our amendment tries to address, or the disastrous changes introduced by Fine Gael and Labour in 2012 to the bands for the contributory pension, which had an adverse effect on older people and women in particular. Fianna Fáil recently brought forward a motion to reverse the 2012 changes, which was passed in the Dáil. In addition, Deputy Willie O’Dea tabled amendments on Committee Stage of this Bill to reverse the changes introduced in 2012 but these were ruled out of order.

Finally, this Bill renames the family income supplement, FIS, as the working family payment. We had hoped that the Minister would have taken a more imaginative approach to reforming the social welfare system and fulfilling a commitment made in the programme for Government to introduce a new working family payment. Fianna Fáil believes that this payment should be reviewed with a view to revising the 38-hour rule to create a sliding scale in order to reflect the fact that many people may be working less than 19 hours per week and may be in just as much need as those currently receiving this payment. We believe that such a move has the potential to benefit lone parents, in particular those who are parenting alone and are the sole carers of their children.

We are happy to support the Bill and we look forward to the new rates being introduced in March.