Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

When speaking about social welfare, it would be wrong to start without paying due respect to the staff in the Department. We have gone through two years of Covid and suddenly we are confronted with a Ukrainian crisis. The staff have performed exceptionally well. As for the Minister herself, she took on two Ministries and kept the ship floating in both the Departments of Justice and Social Protection. I acknowledge her commitment to the State and the work she has done through this pretty horrible time.

We talk about an increase of €12 in the old age pension but, in actual fact, if people are not on a full old age pension, they do not get the full €12. It is a matter of huge annoyance to people who write to me about this. We might talk about a pro rataamount with respect to that.

The Minister has been in politics a long time, as have many of the people in this room. It has become the most precarious profession in the country. In 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, a number of our former colleagues lost their seats in this House. They were young, dynamic, hard-working people who gave everything of themselves while they were here but the nature of politics is that sometimes you pay a price you do not deserve to pay. Due to changes in social welfare rules with respect to lifetime earnings and all these types of things, the class K PRSI is detrimental to these people. A number of young Deputies and Senators left these Houses in the middle of a pandemic with no entitlement to social welfare or any supports whatsoever. Of course, they lost their salaries when they lost their seats. I know there is not a huge amount of sympathy out there for Members of the Oireachtas. People think we have a great job and wonderful conditions and in fairness, we are well looked after while we are here. However, we often see young men and women losing their seats, having given four or five years of their lives. We know in our heart of hearts that it is not just about the loss of the seat or the loss of the welfare entitlements there and then, but the long-term impact that has on their lives and their future pension entitlements.

We have already been through this with county councillors. I was forced at that time to take that matter to the courts. The advice then was that class K is unconstitutional. Who in their right mind would take out an insurance policy in the certain knowledge that they could never draw down anything from that policy? That is what class K is. Class K is a tax on public service, in the case of Members of the Oireachtas only.I appreciate that for members of the Judiciary and others, unearned income is subject to class K and there is a different way to deal with that. Unearned income should be taxed and just because you are a member of the Judiciary does not necessarily mean you are going out with a gold-plated pension either. You might be there for a short time, as some have been in the past.

We have to grasp this nettle. I will put down an amendment; I do not mind it going in my name because at the end of the day, we must be able to look after ourselves and our colleagues, particularly those who lose their seats. Some of those will never return to politics, as the Minister and I know. They might have been hurt by the system and they will be gone. We have to grasp this class K nettle and put it through as an amendment to the Bill. I appreciate that the Minister is up against the wire in needing to get this Bill over the line. I will be as helpful as I can in every way on the Bill for the Minister. A number of the Minister's colleagues will have lost their seats in the last election and it is simply not good enough, having given four or five years of their lives, not to be able to be looked after by the State. It is a small ask for Members of the Houses. There may be a possibility to adjust the Social Welfare Bill 2022 in such a way that if you are here for longer than ten or 15 years, you cease to be entitled to benefits from social welfare and there may be a more equitable way of doing it. However, class K was a crude instrument brought in at a time when this country was on its knees. We have to go back and revisit that.

On the list of payments the Minister has provided, nobody who is on social welfare expects to be extremely comfortable. After all, it is the basic income to keep a family in body and soul. The Government has stepped up to the plate in providing additional income, grants and aid for people for heating etc. and it is to be commended on that. It shows the Government has a feeling for what is going on in society and we are in a precarious situation; we do not know where the world is going over the next 12 months. This is a good Bill on the Minister's part. The increases are as reasonable as they can be, given the circumstances we live in, and overall I will only address the issue of class K contributions on Committee Stage. I thank the Minister for her time and assistance.