Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased to bring this year's Social Welfare Bill to Seanad Éireann. The purpose of the Bill is to give legislative effect to the comprehensive set of social protection measures announced on budget day. The Government has been listening to people throughout the country and is acutely aware of the financial pressures that many in our communities are facing.

Yesterday, the State was 100 years old. This is the largest social welfare budget package since the State was founded. We have brought forward an unprecedented set of one-off lump sum payments, at a cost of €1.2 billion, to assist people with the cost-of-living pressures. These measures, which do not require legislative provision in this Bill, include: the autumn double payment; the €500 lump sum paid to all people receiving a long-term disability payment; the €200 lump-sum payment to people receiving the living alone allowance; the €400 lump-sum payment to all households in receipt of fuel allowance; the €500 lump-sum working family payment and the double child benefit payment - two vital measures to support hard-working families; and the €500 extra payment in carer's support grant paid to more than 114,500 carers in recognition of the vital work our carers do and the pressure they are under. I am pleased to say that these cost-of-living payments have now been paid. The last in the series of payments, the Christmas bonus, will be paid this week and will support our pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and other vulnerable groups.

I am particularly glad that this year's Christmas bonus will be extended to people on long-term illness benefit for the first time. The vast majority of people are on illness benefit for a short period and then return to work. However, there is a small cohort of people with serious medical conditions who remain on the payment for longer periods. These are people who have worked all their lives, paid their PRSI and then have to take time out of the workforce due to serious illness. People in receipt of illness benefit for 12 months or longer will now receive the Christmas bonus.

Other measures announced by Government on budget day that do not require legislative provision include extending access to the JobsPlus scheme to marginalised groups in order to support them into the workforce. I will take a moment to talk about this matter. JobsPlus is an employer incentive that rewards employers who offer employment opportunities to those distant from the labour market.In this year's budget, provision has been made for the higher JobsPlus grant, €10,000 over two years, to be extended to an employer who recruits a jobseeker who is a Traveller or has spent time in prison or has a history of addiction. It is important to ensure we provide as much help as possible to those furthest from the labour market.

I am enhancing the reasonable accommodation fund to assist people with disabilities into to work. I am also increasing the weekly earnings disregard for disability allowance and blind pension from €140 to €165 per week. Members of the House may be aware I announced my intention on budget day to introduce a new over-70s fuel scheme. This is not a once-off measure. It is a permanent change to provide much-needed assistance to older people. Under the new scheme, a single person over 70 can receive income of €500 per week and a couple can receive income of €1,000 per week and still qualify for fuel allowance. In addition, I am removing the requirement for people over 70 to be on a qualifying payment. This measure will bring much-needed support to an additional 80,000 households who are set to qualify for the scheme. My priority is to now implement this scheme which, I am glad to say, is open for applications from this week.

I now turn to the provisions of the Social Welfare Bill itself. Section 1 provides for definitions of the relevant Acts. Section 2 provides a measure to preserve the craft of making and fixing musical instruments of cultural significance to the Irish nation. The low number of uilleann pipe and harp makers in the State suggests Government intervention is warranted to support these craftspeople. The section provides that the first €20,000 of "relevant profits" for those who are wholly or mainly engaged in the production, repair, or maintenance of harps and uilleann pipes will be exempt from income tax, but they will continue to make PRSI contributions in order that their pension and social insurance-based benefits can continue to build up. There is a matching provision in the Finance Bill, which is going through the Oireachtas, to provide an exemption from income tax.

Section 3 extends eligibility for participation on community employment, CE, schemes to adult dependants, that is, spouses, civil partners or cohabitants, of jobseeker's allowance recipients. This is a pilot project and if it works well, I will extend it to other groups in the future. At a time of full employment, I know some CE schemes have struggled to find participants and I am hopeful this initiative will encourage greater participation in CE schemes, which provide such a valuable service in our local communities.

Section 4 is designed to take account of the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage. The weekly earnings of an employee determine the PRSI rate of employer contributions paid on behalf of that employee. Currently, employer PRSI is charged at a rate of 8.8% on weekly earnings between €38 and €410. Weekly earnings in excess of €410 attract employer PRSI at a higher rate of 11.05%. This section increases the earnings threshold from €410 to €441, which is designed to take account of the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage from €10.50 to €11.30 per hour. Employers with employees benefiting from the increase in the national minimum wage will continue to attract the lower rate of employer PRSI.It is intended that the section will come into operation on the same day as the national minimum wage increase, that is, new year's day of 2023. This measure should continue to stimulate employment especially in the services sector.

Section 5 provides for a €12 increase in the weekly rate of maternity benefit from €250 to €262 from 2 January 2023. Sections 6 to 8, inclusive, provide for the equivalent increases in relation to adoptive benefit, paternity benefit and parent's benefit, respectively. Section 9 gives effect to the increases in the graduated rates of jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's benefit for the self-employed.

Section 10 provides for a €40 increase in the weekly income threshold of the working family payment for all family sizes. This payment, formerly known as family income supplement, gives extra financial support to families with children on low incomes. This is a particularly important scheme that is all about keeping people in employment. Research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, during the summer said increasing the thresholds for working family payment is one of the most significant social welfare measures the Government can introduce to decrease the amount of people at risk of poverty. Recipients of the working family payment also received a cost-of-living lump sum of €500 in November, which benefited approximately 44,000 families, over half of whom are lone parents.

Section 11 provides for early and late application periods for partial capacity benefit. Partial capacity benefit is a very worthwhile scheme. It allows a person who has been in receipt of illness benefit for a minimum of six months or invalidity pension to return to employment or self-employment and continue to receive a payment from my Department if the person's capacity to work continues to be reduced by their medical condition. The purpose of the section is to provide for an application window for claims, such as other PRSI-based benefit schemes. To encourage people with an illness or disability back into employment, there is a generous application period ranging from up to 13 weeks prior to commencement of employment to three weeks after the start date of employment. I would also like to point out that, similar to other social protection schemes, a deciding officer may relax these already generous time limits in exceptional circumstances.

Section 12 provides for an ex gratiascheme for community employment scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors. Senators may be aware that last December, community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors voted to accept the terms of a settlement negotiated between unions and the Department of Social Protection on the ex gratiascheme.

Section 13 provides for increases in the rates of social insurance payments. I am pleased to say there will be a €12 per week increase in the maximum personal rate of all social insurance-based benefits. Section 14 provides for an increase in the disregard for income received from agri-environmental schemes. This applies to farm assist, jobseeker's allowance and the non-contributory State pension. These schemes, including the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, will now attract a disregard of €5,000 from 1 January 2023. This provision supports Ireland's climate action agenda by removing a potential barrier for low-income farmers to participate in these agri-environmental schemes.

Section 15 and Schedule 2 provide for €12 per week across-the-board increases in social assistance or, in other words, means-tested payments. It also provides for increases to qualified adults and qualified children where relevant. Section 16 provides for an increase in the monthly payment rate of domiciliary care allowance from €309.50 to €330. Domiciliary care allowance is a payment in recognition of the additional burden involved in caring for children with a severe disability and it is not a means-tested payment. I am the first Minister to increase this payment since 2009. It is only right that we recognise the significant and valuable role family carers perform in our society. In addition to the rate increase, recipients of the domiciliary care allowance have also received the lump sum payment of €500, along with other qualifying carers. This payment, which was made in November, is in addition to the annual carer's support grant of €1,850 that was paid earlier this year. I take this opportunity to inform the House that regulations are being drafted that will allow a parent or guardian to receive domiciliary care allowance if the child remains in the care of the hospital after birth and if the other conditions of the scheme are met. This measure, which I announced on budget day, is very important for families who find themselves in these very difficult circumstances.

Section 17 exempts the ex gratiapayment for community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors from income tax. Finally, section 18 contains the Short Title of the Act.

This Bill is a fair and balanced one. It responds to the needs of members of our community whose income needs are greatest. I very much look forward to hearing contributions from Senators on the Bill and with that, a Chathaoirligh, I commend the Bill to the House.