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DAIL DEBATE
Social Welfare Bill 2004
DÁIL ÉIREANN
Mr. Kelleher: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Social Welfare Bill. That the Minister has received plaudits from the Opposition is an indication of his success in securing the largest social welfare package in the history of the State. I take umbrage with some of the points made by people opposite but, unfortunately, I will have to move the adjournment of the debate at 7 p.m. I wish to deal with the very positive aspects of the social welfare provisions. Most people would accept that huge strides have been made to try to develop a socially inclusive society. We have removed those on the minimum wage from the tax net, which is a very positive step. The Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government introduced the minimum wage in the first place. People must accept that over the past seven years, this Government has been very socially inclusive. There was a reference to social protection. The best way to guarantee social protection is to ensure we have a vibrant economy with as many people as possible at work and to ensure they are taxed in a fair manner so that we can distribute the fruits of the economy to those who most need it. Everyone will accept there have been major increases in pension payments. This Government has committed itself to ensuring that pensions will reach €200 per week. I am quite confident that will be achieved given the step this year and those which will be taken in the next two budgets. That is an indication of the Government's commitment to social provision. In the broader context of social welfare, the economy and the taxation system, there is no doubt that over the past seven years, the Government has made a huge contribution to ensuring we have a low unemployment rate. Many people are coming here from abroad to secure employment. That is something which would have been unthinkable ten years ago. It is disingenuous for anybody to come in here, casually praise the social welfare increases in the budget and then highlight every negative thing without first acknowledging there have been major increases. Child care is an issue which must be tackled on many fronts. The payment of child benefit is welcome but we must address the supply of child care. By increasing child benefit, all we are doing is driving up the price of child care, especially if there are not enough child care places available in the first instance. I urge all local authorities to expedite planning applications for child care and to alleviate some of the problems people experience when they apply for planning permission to change use of their houses to provide four to seven child care places. They must go to extraordinary lengths do so and very often they face objections not from residents, but from planners and from people outside the housing estate.
Debate adjourned. Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Mr. Kelleher: I referred to the provision of child care in communities and highlighted the difficulties facing people trying to access it. The extra provision in child benefit alone will not address the problem of the scarcity of child care facilities. The lack of such facilities is predominantly due to the scarcity of resources in this area. If we continue to invest in child benefit without providing sufficient child care places, all we will do is inflate prices and price providers of such facilities at the lower end of the scale out of the market. I urge local authorities to ensure that planning permissions for such facilities are expedited and that people are encouraged, through whatever mechanism possible, in urban and large residential areas, to apply for planning permission for a five or six place child care facility to enable them to provide such facilities in their communities. We have focused for too long on large-scale child care facilities. If we go down the route of encouraging the provision of such facilities in communities, it would be more beneficial. The Government has decided that child benefit provision is the way forward in accessing child care facilities, but until such time as we address the shortage of spaces, a major problem confronts us. Having regard to the context in which the budget was introduced, we must pay tribute to the Minister for Finance, in particular, for the provision for people with disabilities. That must be acknowledged in this House. While I am dealing with the child care provision, the budgetary package for people with disabilities is a positive step in addressing the myriad problems faced by parents with children with an intellectual or physical disability. This package is worthwhile and welcome. The Minister said such provision will constitute a guaranteed fund for the years going forward. That will enable people in this area to make budgetary plans. It will enable the Department and the health boards to ensure that people in this area who need support can access it on an ongoing basis. People in this area simply voiced their concern on many occasions over the years because they did not have the necessary resources or time to be more involved because of the difficulties they faced in putting their children through education and raising them as best they could. I pay tribute to the Minister for Finance, in particular, for the provision for people with disabilities. Many people have admitted that this social welfare package has been positive in that it seeks to address those who are most in need. That has been acknowledged by many people, including Opposition members. Mr. Durkan: The Deputy should not count in the Opposition on that. He should not spread the blame. Mr. Kelleher: We are trying to be socially and politically inclusive on this occasion. The fruits of the healthy economy created over the past seven years can now be distributed in a manner that can lift people out of the poverty trap. Mr. Durkan: The Deputy should tell us how he will distribute it. An Ceann Comhairle: Allow Deputy Kelleher to continue without interruption. Mr. Kelleher: The debates on this Bill and on the budget indicate that there is a perception that we can continually fund social welfare. Equally, we must ensure we have a mechanism in place to finance it. The Government has been very positive in ensuring that we have a vibrant economy, low unemployment, low taxation and an incentive to work, invest and create employment. It has taken steps to ensure that the moneys raised can be distributed as outlined in the package of social welfare improvements delivered by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan. I refer to one or two points made by the Labour Party. I have a major difficulty with its description of the new medical card as a yellow-pack medical card. That is an affront to anybody who is finding it difficult to access primary medical care. There are 100,000 medical cards in place that allow people to go, free of charge, to their GP and access advice and medical care. Statistics show that many people do not have to go further than a consultation with their GP and are happy to be secure in the knowledge that they can go to their local GP whenever they have a major health concern. It is totally disingenuous of the Labour Party to dismiss this as another stunt. If we are serious about being socially inclusive, we should try to ensure that as many people as possible can access services when they fall on hard times. Equally, there are many people who fall just above the threshold of eligibility for a medical card, and the announcement on medical cards will be welcomed by many families who are finding it difficult to afford primary medical care. Mr. Durkan: It will not. Mr. Kelleher: This point was made by the Opposition, Fianna Fáil backbenchers and people of all persuasions. If people are sick they can now access their family GP free of charge. That is a wonderfully positive step. I encourage the Government to ensure on an ongoing basis that as many people as possible are included in that scheme. Moreover, more than 30,000 people hold medical cards in their own right. Mr. Durkan: There are 300,000 less than there were five years ago. That may be strange but that is the way it is. An Ceann Comhairle: Allow Deputy Kelleher to continue without interruption. Mr. Kelleher: Deputy Durkan analyses issues negatively and we analyse them positively. That is why he is over there and we are over here. The reason there are fewer people with medical cards is that more people are at work. More people are above the threshold for qualification simply because they are in a position to generate their own income. Mr. Durkan: I have heard that argument before. People are so well off they do not need a medical card. An Ceann Comhairle: Allow Deputy Kelleher to make his contribution without interruption. Mr. Durkan: He has upset me. Mr. P. McGrath: One could cut back other things as well by being positive. Mr. Kelleher: Deputy Durkan bases his analysis on the negative aspects. I say it is necessary to have a positive outlook. We have a positive outlook, and most of the people out there have a positive outlook. Statistics confirm that while fewer people are in receipt of medical cards, more people are at work generating their own income and are outside the guidelines. Mr. Boyle: Are they healthier? Mr. Kelleher: Another positive and welcome development is that all those on the minimum wage have been taken out of the tax net. That puts paid to the lie that the Government does not cater for people on low incomes. It introduced the minimum wage, which was a positive step. It has now achieved a situation where nobody on the minimum wage is in the tax net. That should be welcomed by everybody. Social housing was mentioned. Politicians of all hues have responsibilities in this area. There are cases across this country in which public representatives are the ones delaying the delivery of social housing. I have been at meetings where public representatives objected to the provision of social housing. Mr. Durkan: Not on this side. It was not objections that stopped the provision of social housing but the inability of the Government to provide it. An Ceann Comhairle: Will Deputy Durkan please allow Deputy Kelleher to continue without interruption or the Chair will be obliged to give some of the Deputy's time to Deputy Kelleher? Mr. Durkan: I apologise. Mr. Kelleher: All parties have a duty to send out the message to their councillors and representatives on local authorities that social housing must be provided for. I know of local authority members who say they will accept affordable housing but not social housing. It is damaging local authorities' ability to draw down funding from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for social housing. That attitude is negative and it is creeping into all political parties. A previous speaker mentioned that the provision of social housing has been delayed. I know, not only from anecdotal evidence but from direct involvement, that representatives from all political parties are involved in trying to play all sides of the scrum. That issue must be addressed. The issue of carers has been debated for a long time. Everybody acknowledges that those who care for the elderly and those with disabilities make a huge sacrifice. They also give service to the State. Any person who gives service to the State in an unselfish manner should be rewarded. Changes have been made. The respite care grant has been increased to €1,000. The issue of carers must be addressed on an ongoing basis. Everybody acknowledges the work carers do in their homes in caring for their loved ones. That they are providing a service for the State must be acknowledged. I am sure that over the next few years that will be done. We must accept some important facts. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has sat through this debate and listened attentively to all sides. One common idea has come out in this debate and that is that if we continue to pursue the policies this side of the House recommends, they will go a long way towards achieving social inclusion. If we pursued the policies advocated by those on the other side of the House, we would have a chaotic situation regarding public finances. Some parties say the Government is spending money in a way that is not achieving the productivity levels they would like. Other parties opposite are selectively saying they will be the de facto opposition. It is timely to remind people on that side of the House that they have a duty not merely to criticise, undermine and make accusations, but to put forward policies and prioritise the areas in which they are interested. Mr. Durkan: We have heard that story before. Who is in government? Deputy Kelleher should accept responsibility or back off. The Government should have a general election. That would solve the problem. An Ceann Comhairle: Deputy Kelleher, without interruption. Mr. Kelleher: I wait with bated breath for the day that Fine Gael, Labour, the Green Party and some Independents come here and put forward a coherent package that addresses the problems of social inclusion, as the Government has done. Dr. Twomey: We do not have to. The Deputy's party is in government. Mr. Durkan: What is the Government doing? Mr. Kelleher: We always look on the positive side. Deputy Durkan is falling into that old trap of highlighting the negative. Mr. Durkan: Negativity is something people over there would know nothing about. An Ceann Comhairle: Will Deputy Durkan allow Deputy Kelleher to speak without interruption, and will Deputy Kelleher address his remarks through the Chair? Mr. Kelleher: I will have to continue in the same vein of emphasising the negative aspect of the Opposition regarding all the packages, the budget, alleviation of the burden of tax on the low paid, major increases in social welfare, capital expenditure on education----- Mr. Durkan: The lack of it. Mr. Kelleher: -----the whole area of disability and all the other areas such as the provision of medical cards to enable people to see their GPs free of charge. Dr. Twomey: They are dancing at the crossroads with delight. Mr. Kelleher: The Deputy is dancing at the crossroads since he joined the Fine Gael Party. I remember some of the Deputy's campaigns when he was dancing at the crossroads on his own but now that he has found fortitude----- Mr. Durkan: The founder of Deputy Kelleher's party would have us all dancing at the crossroads if he had his way. An Ceann Comhairle: Deputy Kelleher, without interruption. Mr. Kelleher: The overall context of this debate is about social inclusion. It is about the measures that have been put in place by the Minister to help people who, for whatever reason, cannot support themselves. Reference was made to the important point that these are not just handouts but entitlements. Irish citizens are entitled to the support of the State, the taxpayer and the Government to ensure they can live their lives if, for whatever reason, they fall on hard times. The Minister made reference to this important message in his contribution when he stated this issue is not about statistics or throwing out facts but about real people and the impact payments have on their lives. This often gets lost in debates. We talk about statistics, figures and facts but what we are trying to do is ensure that----- Dr. Twomey: They are thinking of the next election. Mr. Durkan: Exactly. Mr. Kelleher: -----measures are put in place so that if a person falls through the net or suffers hard times, for whatever reason, a mechanism is in place through which he or she can address his or her problems. It is not a handout but an entitlement. Mr. P. McGrath: The savage 16 cuts dealt with that. Mr. Kelleher: The Minister made reference to this on a number of occasions. I am satisfied that he is reviewing some of the cuts and has changed more of them with regard to the issue of housing------ Mr. P. McGrath: He reversed none of them. Mr. Kelleher: The Deputy should study the facts. He should reread the Minister's speech. I know Opposition Members like to read horror stories as opposed to good news stories. Mr. P. McGrath: The Minister did not reverse all the cuts. He reversed four. Mr. Durkan: There is room for improvement. Mr. Kelleher: On this side of the House, we will continue to promote a socially inclusive society. Mr. Durkan: There is much done but more to do. Mr. Kelleher: We will continue to make decisions in the interests of Ireland as a whole and ensure there is a vibrant, dynamic economy. However, decisions must be made. The issue highlighted by Opposition Members is that, effectively, they would be incapable of making decisions at any time because there would be such a myriad of opinions, they would not be able to agree. Mr. Durkan: There is no need to. The Government has the monopoly on this. It is punishing the public. An Ceann Comhairle: Deputy Durkan, please allow Deputy Kelleher to speak. Mr. Kelleher: We have made proactive decisions over many years. I pay tribute to the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, in regard to an area in which I was interested, that of pensions provision and savings. Mr. Durkan: It is the first time he has been mentioned. Mr. Kelleher: People of my age and younger came through the Celtic tiger years thinking they would never see a poor day again. Encouraging people to save and make pension provisions, and ensuring they will have a reasonable standard of living in their later years, are positive developments. However, they have been completely overlooked. While I listen to Members asking why we have not done one thing or another, the savings scheme is a positive step and a measure which has encouraged people to save. In years to come we will reap the dividends of the fund for public service pensions. We must consider the issues in the context of today but must also analyse the figures going forward to ensure we have an economy that can support an ageing population as demographics change. Mr. Durkan: There is no need to get personal. Mr. Kelleher: I pay tribute to the Minister, Deputy Brennan. His vigour and interest in this area has come to the fore in that he has achieved substantial increases in basic social welfare provisions and many other areas. I commend the Bill to the House and congratulate the Minister on bringing forward what I consider a socially inclusive Bill. |