Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. Fianna Fáil welcomes this Bill, which gives effect to unprecedented levels of expenditure in budget 2021. Aside from the enormous levels of expenditure, the Bill also provides that the change to the State pension age previously planned for 1 January 2021 will be deferred. The pension age will remain at 66 pending the report of the commission on pensions. The planned increase from 67 to 68, which is scheduled to happen on 1 January 2028, is also being repealed so that the commission on can consider matters relating to the State pension age unconstrained by any prospective changes scheduled in legislation.

Regulations are also being brought forward so that 65 year olds who are required to or choose to retire early can achieve an early retirement allowance or pension at the same rate as jobseeker's benefit without a requirement to sign on. Many Members have been contacted by people who worked all of their lives and when they retired, they had to go through a process, unfamiliar to them, of attending their local social welfare office. This caused huge upset and anger among many who had paid taxes all their lives. There will not be a requirement to sign on, to partake in any activation measures or to be available for and genuinely seeking work.

Other measures in the Bill provide for hugely welcome increases in the carer's support grant, the living alone allowance, the fuel allowance and the working family payment threshold. It also provides for the removal of the one-parent family earnings threshold. These are all very welcome provisions, especially in light of Covid-19 and the year we are having. The pandemic has had a significant impact on social welfare expenditure as we know, with €27.3 billion spent by the end of November. This is almost €8 billion ahead of the Estimates at the start of 2020 or 41% higher than originally planned. No Government has ever spent as much on social protection. This spending is happening in the context of a one in 100 or even 200-year event, a global pandemic that hopefully we will not see the likes of again.

As the Minister said, this budget does not go far enough for everyone and I agree. The basic rate of social welfare was not increased for many people, so nothing has changed for them. They remain on the same social welfare rate but the cost of living has increased massively.We know the public service obligation levy will be increased by nearly 130%, a huge increase of nearly €90 annually in the cost of people's electricity bills. This is just one item on which we spend our money.

It is really important to consider the cost of living inflation and look to a future where the basic social welfare levels are harmonised with the cost of living inflation. People on a set income - those on social welfare, and especially the long-term unemployed or people on the State pension that will not see an increase - have no capacity to gain extra income. It is really important we do not leave people behind and we must not widen the gap between rich and poor. We must ensure our poverty levels do not go through the roof. Some people have stated the cost of living will go up by 5% or 6%, for example.

I raised the question of the fuel allowance before. We very much welcome the increase in the fuel allowance but there has been no increase in income thresholds so that more people can benefit from being in receipt of the fuel allowance. We all know the fuel allowance comes with many ancillary benefits, and one of the main benefits that people in Dublin get is the wrapping of homes in insulation. This fantastic and successful scheme has been done in conjunction with local health boards. Many people were just above the income threshold and did not qualify for the fuel allowance and were unable to get that benefit.

It is important to consider these thresholds for the fuel allowance, especially as we are in an era of just transition from fossil fuel use. We are also looking at carbon taxes and modifying homes to ensure they are of a higher standard. The fuel allowance is currently being used to retrofit homes and it may have a larger role to play in the just transition. I would like to see an increase in income levels so more people could qualify. There is a public service obligation levy on the provision of electricity. It may be worthwhile seeing if those in receipt of the fuel allowance could be made exempt from this as it is a huge amount each year for people but it would not amount to much more for the Department.

I congratulate the staff in the Minister's Department as any time we make queries, they are very efficient. I thank them for helping me. They put seven years of work into a few months, as has been mentioned, and that is just unbelievable. They should be commended as people can be very slow to commend the people working behind computers. On my behalf and that of the Fianna Fáil group, I say that we are very grateful to the Minister and her staff in the Department.

During the pandemic, we saw many food banks open and volunteers working in them. It is a pity that we are again seeing them open around Christmas. I know the pandemic unemployment payment filled a space but there is a huge gap arising because people need basic essentials and food items. I do not know if the Department has looked at food credits or some extra way in which people could purchase food on top of the PUP or a social welfare benefit. It amazes me to see the amount of need and the type of people who attend food banks looking for a food hamper. These are people we might not think need such hampers. We need to be cognisant of the issue. It is not ideal that people have to attend food banks but it is happening so we must see if there is something we can do to help people a little more.