Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending. Fianna Fáil supports this Bill. It is a small, but practical, Bill and has three elements. It started its life in the Dáil mainly as a child maintenance Bill but has since grown practical legs.

Regarding the International Protection Act 2015, it is important to have on record that Ireland has welcomed 2.3% of those who have fled Ukraine to the EU since the war began. This has been a significant response from Ireland. The number of weekly arrivals remains high. That number, including secondary movements from elsewhere in Europe, is challenging and unsustainable under the present accommodation policy. Therefore, the Government has announced changes to how beneficiaries of temporary protection will be supported under the temporary protection directive so as to more closely align with our EU neighbours and ensure that Ireland can continue meeting its obligations under the directive.

A part of the Minister’s package in this Bill includes amendments to the International Protection Act, ensuring that we have a more sustainable response in future to humanitarian crises. There is obviously the awful war in Ukraine, but we do not know what is down the road, so we need to ensure that we have a response that does not use up all of our resources. Failure to implement this new approach to accommodation and supports will undermine our overall approach and place the State in the position of being unable to impose any limit on the provision of accommodation to those in receipt of temporary protections.

In the context of the extension of the EU’s temporary protection directive to March 2025, the current level of support and accommodation provided to beneficiaries of temporary protection is unsustainable and needs to be amended to align more closely with other EU states. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will introduce a time limit of 90 days on accommodation for new arrivals, amend the International Protection Act to remove the current equivalence with Irish citizens in terms of accessing social welfare benefits while still meeting the standards set out in the directive, and amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act to provide for beneficiaries of temporary protection in accommodation designated by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to be disqualified from receiving any benefit under Part 3 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act except for supplementary welfare allowances under section 201. The Bill gives the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the power to provide for a payment to beneficiaries of temporary protection in designated accommodation centres. This payment would be administered by the Department of Social Protection by way of regulation and the primary legislation we are setting out today.

It is important that we clearly set out the facts, given that there is a great deal of misinformation about those in receipt of temporary protection, those seeking international protection and migrants who are working in Ireland and benefiting our State, for example, our doctors and nurses. It is important that we have a proper debate in the House and that the rationale for making these changes be set out clearly. I welcome these practical changes.

The changes to the child maintenance payment are important. It was disappointing to learn from the Minister that her Department was only able to recoup €600,000 of child maintenance from other parents. Clearly, the system was not working, so scrapping it is definitely the right decision. This amendment marries well with the referendum that is on the horizon in terms of acknowledging the different types of family in our country. We have to acknowledge the women of Ireland and that one quarter of all families are lone parent families.

I welcome the changes to the extension of child benefit in respect of those who are 18 years of age or older. I would be happy to table the amendment for the Minister in the House. This is an important payment for families around the country. The change will affect nearly 60,000 18-year-olds and their families. At €140 per month, it is a large amount of money.