Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to join with colleagues in wishing the Minister the very best into the future. I have dealt with her since I came into this House four and half years ago and I have served on the social protection committee and dealt with various Bills. I have always found her to be most co-operative in everything she does and very fair in listening to the points that have been raised by Members on the Opposition and on any committee I have been on. I have no doubt that she is only starting another chapter in her life and I look forward to seeing where it takes. I wish her the very best.

I also wish, having listened to the vox pop from her voters last night, that the voters in south Kildare will do something for me. It was unbelievable listening to those interviewed yesterday and the esteem in which they hold the Minister.That is a credit to the Minister and what she has done in politics.

This is a very positive Bill and the Labour Party will be supporting it and its passage through the House in the quickest possible time. There are many positives in this Bill, which the Minister worked on for a long time, which is a credit to her. Over the period of time she has brought much through. With every Bill there are inconsistencies and through my work in clinics I see them. There are a number of points I want to bring up with the Minister today.

I want to start with a subject I have been dealing with over the past four to five weeks. I know of up to ten people who are losing their fuel allowance. We are in the middle of a housing crisis as has been mentioned by many of my colleagues. What is happening in a lot of cases is that people have moved out but unfortunately, where they moved to has not worked out and they therefore have moved back to their parental home. As a result of that, unfortunately their parents lose their fuel allowance. In the housing crisis, this is not right. It is something I have raised with the Minister previously and I have encountered five examples in recent weeks. There seems to be a review of this going on at the moment. As I say, I have encountered up to ten examples this year alone where a parent has lost their fuel allowance after giving a room back to their son or daughter. This is wrong because while fuel allowance is €33 plus, were that person to be paid for HAP by the State, he or she would be at entitled to at least €700 per month, were he or she to qualify for housing. It is an anomaly that needs to be looked at. I have raised this issue before. The fuel allowance means a lot to the five people who in the last number of weeks have been under review and have lost it. The Minister has done a lot of work on fuel allowance but this is an area that the next Minister, whosoever that might be, needs to look at and change.

I welcome the fact of the increases in domiciliary care. It is a great grant and the Minister has been to forefront in raising it. We have discussed that at the committee on social protection. There is one issue with domiciliary care, which is that it stops at 16 years of age. We have spoken before about raising that to 18 years and whosoever is in government next time needs to ensure that happens. The number of times over the past couple of weeks and since the budget that I have been asked by parents about their 16-year-olds and how they go about ensuring that they keep domiciliary care or – and this is a bit strange to me - how they go about applying for disability allowance for a 16-year-old is not right. I know the Minister has commented on this before, but domiciliary care, which is a great payment as I have said, needs to be extended to 18 years of age from its current limit of 16 years of age.

Another issue that we have spoken about before at the committee on social protection is the area of funeral expenses at the most difficult time for families. This is an issue I have brought up with the Minister before and which I get more and more of as I work through my own clinics. At present, from dealing with local community welfare officers, this seems to be centralised in Sligo. I honestly believe that the compassion has gone out of it and I am saying that to the Minister today with the greatest of respect. I dealt yesterday with two cases in Athy where people have now to explain how much they are spending each week at their most difficult hour. This is totally wrong. They have to send back a profit and loss account, for want of a better description, as to how much they are spending each week to qualify for assistance through the community welfare services. That is wrong on so many levels. Those people at their most difficult hour need compassion and the Minister has shown compassion throughout her tenure as Minister. However, at this stage this is wrong and we need to look at funeral expenses again.

Carer's allowance is something the Minister and I have debated over for four long years and in fairness, she has increased the means test on every occasion. Obviously in my opinion there should be no means test for carer's allowance. The Minister is working on that and has laid out a plan to work through it and I also welcome, as has been said before, that carers now qualify for fuel allowance. That is to the Minister’s credit. It had been an issue for many people on carer’s allowance that they were losing out on fuel allowance. Thankfully, however, that has been alleviated through this budget. We need to end means-testing on carer's allowance as quickly as possible.

I come from County Kildare and the Minister will be well aware that we have a huge bog there called the Bog of Allen. Many people have made a business over a long time of selling a few bags of turf or whatever it is. That is coming to an end and these people realise it is coming to an end. One of the greatest difficulties a lot of people in that area are having is qualifying for a State pension, which in most cases will be non-contributary.I have a case where a person has gone to an accountant who has done up a profit and loss account for them for the past couple of years but it is not being accepted by the Department. I find it very difficult that this is the case because this person has engaged and paid for a qualified certified accountant to show exactly what they have earned. They were selling a plot of turf or a couple of bags of turf but they are being told they are not providing the documentation even though they have provided documentation from a qualified accountant.

This is something we need to look at because we are encouraging people to stop using turf and all the restrictions that go with that but at the same time we are saying these people are not qualifying in this case. This is one of a number of cases I have. I might send this on to the Minister as I would appreciate some help with it. I believe this person has done the right thing in engaging a qualified accountant.

As I said earlier, I suffer from Crohn's disease. I am one of 50,000 people in this country who suffer from this disease. However, over the past couple of days I have had a number of cases. One case was of a person on invalidity pension who was told their Crohn's disease did not qualify as a condition for invalidity pension. I know this has to come through the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and I intend to raise it with him as well. I have done some work with the Irish Society for Colitis and Crohn's Disease on this but there is an issue here. Crohn's disease is a lifelong condition. There is no cure for it. Many people suffer severe conditions on a daily basis with Crohn's disease and we need to look at it as a qualifying condition. As it was said to me this morning, some people can work. I can work because I am getting treatment. However, a percentage of those 50,000 people are confined to their houses on a daily basis and, in some cases, they are confined to their beds. It is simply not good enough to target everybody, saying Crohn's disease or colitis do not qualify. It is something we need to look at again. I mentioned it is not the Minister's area but local authorities are also denying Crohn's disease as a qualifying criteria. This is also something we need to look at.

I welcome the companion passes for over 70s. The Minister set out her stall in regard to those of an older age and I welcome the fact she has done this. It is something I have campaigned for before and it will make a difference. Rather than people going to their doctor to say they need a companion, the over 70s are now allowed to have that companion pass.

I mention the short-term payments. They are great; there is absolutely no doubt about that. However, I have mentioned previously the advertisement saying, "When they're gone, they're gone". The Labour Party welcomes them but I hope that whatever Government comes next will look at those payments from a long-term perspective because there is no doubt those people who qualify for the most are the ones who need the most. We need to look at longer-term payments rather than a short-term bonus. However, as I previously said, everyone welcomes them and the fact that money will circulate through the economy, local and rural economies in particular, is very welcome.

I know this is a social protection Bill but in the context of the rural economy, I want to thank the Minister for her work. It is very important that we encourage this. Coming from rural Athy in south Kildare, I have seen the work the Minister has done through various grants and I acknowledge that.

I join the Minister in thanking her Department of Social Protection staff. I have many dealings with them on a daily basis and I have never found them wanting in any way, shape or form. They have been very co-operative in anything I have asked for and have been there for me as a public representative over many years. It is important to acknowledge that fact, as the Minister did, and to send out a message of thanks to those who help us as public representatives on a daily basis.

I thank the Minister for being there anytime I have called on her and I wish her the very best in her future.