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

I thank Senators for their contributions this evening. In the past couple of years this State has had to deal with a pandemic, an energy shock, rising inflation and a war on our continent. Despite this, employment is now higher than it was before the pandemic and the Government has delivered the highest social protection budget in the 100 year history of the State.

I will now respond to some of the issues raised by Senators during the course of this debate. Senators Craughwell and Burke raised the issue of class K PRSI. This is a sensitive issue and any changes would need to have cross-party support. I fully understand the arguments the Senators made but an all-party approach needs to be taken to this issue. In that context, I suggest that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands examines the issue of class K PRSI. It should consult with Oireachtas members past and present, from all parties and none, engage with people who have lost their seats to hear their stories and determine whether this is something that is putting people off getting involved in politics. If I get a report from the committee which shows there is cross-party support for action on class K, I will consider it and happily act upon it. That said, I must stress the need for cross-party support on this issue.

Senators Kyne, Curry and Maria Byrne all raised the issue of school meals. I have commissioned an evaluation of the school meals scheme and expect to receive a report before the end of the year. I am conscious that the cost of food has increased considerably and I know that the rates paid under the scheme have not increased for a good few years. While I cannot say it for certain, I expect the evaluation will recommend an increase in the rates and if it does so, I will act on that. I am absolutely committed to expanding the school meals scheme. There were only 30 schools getting hot school meals as part of a pilot scheme when I came into the Department just over two years ago but now more than 500 schools are benefitting from the scheme. I firmly believe a hot dinner in the middle of the day is the best thing we can give to children in school. There is no doubt about that. It helps to improve their educational attainment and ensures that children get a proper dinner. As a mother, I remember filling my children's lunch boxes but if I missed a day or two before I got into their school bags, I would often find a few blue, mouldy sandwiches in the bottom of them, despite my best efforts to make them as attractive as possible. I would love to expand the hot meals programme across the board, regardless of socioeconomic background. We should give all children a good hot dinner in the middle of the day. It will help working parents so they do not have the torture every night of trying to put a lunch together. I am totally committed to the expansion of that scheme.

It is important to point out that CSO statistics show that against the 2010 baseline, the number of children in consistent poverty has fallen by 45,000, from 107,000 in 2011 down to 62,000 in 2021.The consistent poverty rate fell by 4.1 percentage points, from 9.3% in 2011 to 5.2% in 2021. While income supports are important, access to affordable and available services, including housing, health, childcare, education and so on, plays an equally strong and potentially more sustainable role in addressing child poverty. Social protection budgets over the past years have prioritised the introduction of measures that have had and will continue to have a direct and positive impact on poverty, particularly on child poverty. We had increases in the weekly child-related payments and in the working family payment threshold. That is aimed at supporting working families and ensuring that work pays. There have been improvements to the means testing of payments for lone parents, increases to the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, and increases in the weekly rates of payment for all schemes. As already stated, the hot school meals scheme has been expanded. There is a double child benefit payment as part of the cost-of-living measures in budget 2023. There is a range of lump-sum payments.

As with every budget, we can never do everything we want to do. There will always be more asks and more things that we would like to do. In this budget, we have struck a fair balance. All the analysis shows that this is a positive budget, particularly for the most vulnerable. The ESRI said that the weekly welfare increases, together with the one-off measures, mean that low-income households will be better off next year than they would if we had just increased welfare rates in line with inflation. A report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that the Government has got the balance right between protecting vulnerable households and avoiding adding to inflation. We have tried to cover as many things as we can.

In response to Senator Wall, like many Members, I recognise the important service of community welfare officers. There is a full-time community welfare officer in all 50 Intreo centres nationwide, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Community welfare officers remain available to ten clinics. They can talk to people over the phone. Where needed, they can also arrange to visit a person's house by appointment. We are genuinely doing everything we can to facilitate and help people. However, a client does not have to attend an office in person to make a claim or an inquiry about a claim. If it is more convenient for people, they can call the community welfare service's freefone line. There has been a significant increase in the number of people who are using the phone line. In many cases, it has been possible to help them through a phone call or a number of phone calls. The delivery of a locally based community welfare service remains and will continue to remain a key aspect of the service. This will not change.

The carer's allowance was mentioned. It is part of the system of social assistance supports which provide payments based on an income need. The means test plays the critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency, whether that is illness, disability, unemployment or caring. The means test for carer's allowance is one of the most generous in the social protection system. However, I have said that I will look at means tests across all schemes and with regard to savings. At the moment, if people have more than €20,000 in savings, that will affect the means test. Some €20,000 is not as big an amount as it was even six or seven years ago. I have increased that means test from €20,000 to €50,000 for the new fuel allowance for over-70s. I will look at all the means tests across the board.

I think I have covered most issues that were raised with me. I thank the Deputies for their comments. I look forward to progressing this Bill through the House.