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

I thank the Senators for their contributions and their positive comments and engagement. This is an extensive package of supports announced on budget day and many of them do not require primary legislation, which are the lump sum payments I am delivering at a cost of €1.4 billion to assist people with the continuing cost-of-living pressures they are facing.The lump-sum payments will provide much-needed assistance to pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, working families and others in need of financial support. They are designed to reach the people who need it most. They will have the money in their pockets.

Senator Gerry Horkan listed all the different payments. I will not go through them all again. What I will say is that the age criteria for the more generous fuel allowance means test will be reduced from 70 to 66 years of age. The free travel companion pass that many Senators mentioned will be made available to Irish residents aged over 70. People can bring someone with them when they are taking the bus. This will be good in combating isolation among older people. Previously, they could only bring their spouse or partner. It has now changed so that people can bring their niece, nephew or grandchild. It is nice to have that bit of company when going on a trip.

The disregard for means assessment purposes will be increased for the sale of a primary residence to allow recipients of the non-contributory State pension or disability allowance to move to more suitable accommodation. If a recipient has to sell his or her house to move in with a family member or go into a nursing home, he or she will be able to continue to receive the relevant social welfare payments. That is important.

The weekly rate to participants in the work placement experience programme will be increased by €24. This valuable scheme increases the employability of long-term jobseekers. We are telling long-term jobseekers to engage with us to let us help them find employment because that, as we all know, is the route out of poverty. I am keen to ensure there are a lot of supports they can avail of. The Department of Social Protection is here to help. People can go into an Intreo office to have a chat with officials who will give them good advice and help.

The earnings disregard for the carer’s allowance is to be increased by €175 for a single person and €350 for a couple, bringing the allowance up to €625 for a single person and €1,250 for a married couple. For a couple where one person is a carer, their annual income can be up to €65,000 without it affecting the carer's allowance. A reducing scale then applies to earnings of up to more than €90,000 before people are disqualified from receiving any payment. Receipt of the carer's allowance, as has been said, will longer disqualify people from receiving the fuel allowance payment. Recipients will be able to apply for the fuel allowance. The normal criteria of the fuel allowance apply, however.

A number of issues were raised and I will try to address them all. Every time I mention the hot school meals programme, I smile. I go into schools throughout the country and it is lovely to see the children all sitting down having their meals together. It is a great leveller. They are all on the same level. In my eyes, and in everyone’s eyes, all children are the same. They are equal and should be treated equally. This scheme benefits children. Their education attainment is much better when they get a hot dinner in the middle of the day. We started with 30 options. We received extra money in the budget and every primary school child will get a hot school meal by the end of 2025. We are engaging with a tranche of approximately 900 schools currently. There are 400 left with which we will continue to work. Some 900 schools have expressed an interest and we will deal with all of them. We are speaking to 400 schools to see if they are interested in getting involved. The schools have to express an interest but by the end of 2025, every child should have a hot school meal.Looking at their wee faces would do your heart good. It is the little things that make the difference. Senator Ahearn gave us a good idea of the chicken curry that his wee man got today.

It has been great for me to visit so many communities, mainly with my rural hat on. I have been in many different places. The one thing I always felt about rural Ireland was every community knows what it needs. From the start, it was this bottom-up approach. I talk to communities, engage with them at a local level and they get their applications in. As a Government we want to support them to realise their ambition for their area, as I always said. I always know what they want in Aghabog, County Monaghan, or I think I do anyway. I have a fairly good idea. However, I do not know what they need in Longford - and many a visit I had to Longford - but as Senator Carrigy is aware, they do know over there. I have been around the county many times, to Ballymahon and many other places. I always loved going because I got a great welcome and a good cup of tea and plenty of sandwiches and sweet cake - and it shows, unfortunately. It is that bottom-up approach where people really come together. They know what they want in their area. It has been a game-changer for many communities, where they have been able to get those simple things. I learned a lesson once. A grant came out about six or 12 months after I was first elected to the Dáil. By making a call, I got a grant for about €7,000 or €8,000. They were delighted. It was for some community project. When I rang to tell him, the man told me I was a great woman as they would be a long time standing at the traffic lights in Monaghan with a bucket before they would get that kind of money. Never underestimate the benefit of investing money in rural areas and small communities. It certainly pays off.

Senator Horkan spoke about the hedge-cutting Bill. I remember that Bill. I nearly got the head cut off me over the hedge-cutting Bill. All I want to do is cut the hedges on the side of the roads so that the branches and briars do not cut the ears off people when they are cycling. We did not get there.

Self-employed people get maternity benefit. It is an important payment. Illness benefit was mentioned by Senator Garvey. If a person wants more benefits, he or she may have to pay more PRSI. That is the note I will leave for the next Minister, to look at whether to look for more benefits for the self-employed. There has to be an increase in the PRSI rate in order to increase the benefits.

In response to Senator Wall on the fuel allowance, it is means-tested on the household income. Many people rent rooms to students and if a room is being rented out, the fuel allowance is not affected. We brought that scheme in. It is somewhat different for family members. We also have expanded the income limits for the fuel allowance for those who are over 66. Some people will benefit from that as well.

The increase in the domiciliary care allowance from €16 to €18 was mentioned. For someone with a severe disability, the domiciliary care allowance ceased at age 16. Then the person goes on to the disability payment, which is higher. We need a discussion about this.I agree with the Senator that a disability payment for a 16-year-old should probably continue until the age of 18. The domiciliary care allowance is not as generous as the disability payment. It is something that could be looked at.

Senator Gavan referred to the fuel allowance, and I covered that. We have done a lot for family carers. I recognise the important role they play and the contribution they make. I have worked very closely with Family Carers Ireland. We now have a pension for carers. We have supported them, but of course we are on a journey and there is always more to do. Carer's allowance was never intended to be a payment for caring; it is a social welfare income support payment. Since the Government was formed, we have nearly doubled the income disregard for carer's allowance from €332.50 to €625, and up to €1,250 for a carer who is part of a couple. The changes mean that a couple earning €67,000 will receive the full carer's allowance.

As well as that, I established an interdepartmental group, which was asked to examine the means-testing of payments to family carers. The group will report its findings to me by the end of the year. Removing the means test for carer's allowance would, in effect, create a new universal social protection scheme for those meeting the scheme's basic caring condition. A conservative estimate is that it would be at an additional cost of €600 million per annum based on current claims, but if we look at all the people who categorised themselves as carers in the most recent census, it would go to somewhere in the region of €2 billion. There is a big cost attached. These are all options that must be considered but the interdepartmental group between the Departments of Health and Social Protection will come forward with some recommendations in that regard. I have covered a good bit there.

Senator Keogan mentioned the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. I will come back to her on that. I am sure there is a reason it has not been changed.

Senator Seery Kearney referred to lone parents. As a result of this budget, one-parent families will benefit by a further €2,424 per annum. There are a lot of lump sum payments there. I passed legislation to ensure child maintenance does not have to be taken into account any more. I worked very closely with single parents on that. I met many single parents who are very happy they do not have to go into court to seek that maintenance. It is positive that it is not means-tested any more.

I have been to many places with my rural brief. Senator Dolan is aware that I have been to Roscommon and Galway. They had me up at 8 o'clock one morning.