Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is always a good day when the Social Welfare Bill comes before us. This is one of the biggest budgets in the history of the State. I say that every year. This year's budget is €2.3 billion. Senator Craughwell talked about the important issue of class K, as he has every year. I am glad Fianna Fáil is part of this Government. In the next few weeks we are going to see huge lump sum payments to families who are hugely in need. There will be a double child benefit, a €400 working family payment, €300 in fuel allowance, a €200 living alone allowance and €100 per qualified child, to name a few, as well as extra supports for electricity and whatnot.

The most important part of this year's social protection Bill is the pension reforms. My colleague Senator Higgins is on maternity leave but she is probably watching this and is probably delighted to hear the ads on the radio today. I sat on the social protection committee with her in 2016 and it was one of her main priorities, as it was one of mine. We know there is deep inequality in the former system of pensions, and it especially affects women and women caring for those who cannot care for themselves. This is a huge day. When I heard the ad on the radio today, I was absolutely delighted. The Minister of State said in his speech that it is really important for us as parliamentarians to get the message out there to people. The ten-year transition period might not seem like a lot. If someone is in their 40s and they have been caring for someone for the past ten years, having a pension and the idea of becoming of pension age might not be on their radar. It is important for us to let people know this is there and they have to log in and find the time to do it. It is a welcome change. I thank the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, because I know she worked hard to get this over the line. It is wonderful for carers. It is not just politicians who have been campaigning for this but a lot of civic society groups. It is a really good day for them as well. It was one of the National Women's Council's main priorities so it will also welcome this.

The interactions between sick leave and the social welfare Bill is some sort of internal housekeeping. It is important to keep things right.

I also mention the extension of the hot school meals scheme because that is something the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has been working on and which got support from across the House. On 5 December, 900 schools were added to the hot meals scheme. It is very important. It is something I would like to see rolled out in every school in the country. I hope we will get there. We have to start somewhere. The Minister started with a pilot and to have 900 schools now is fantastic. It makes such a difference to children, to their demeanour and to families. It takes the pressure off in the morning of trying to get lunches ready. It is simple and is a great initiative. I hope, when we are speaking about the social protection Bill next year, this will have been rolled out again. Obviously, it is not part of the social protection Bill but it is under the remit of the Department and I am just glad to see that rolled out further.

I thank the Minister of State again for coming in. I am curious about the staggered payment system as a way to encourage people to retire later. That is a new provision and we will probably be able to have more commentary in a few months when we figure out how that is working out and how people are receiving that. I thank the Minister of State again for coming to the House. As the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on social protection, I commend this Bill.