CHILD BENEFIT RESTORATION AND IMPROVEMENTS FOR OLDER PEOPLE THE RIGHT THING TO DO - KENNY

Posted on November 11, 2014 11:10 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Speaking on the Social Welfare Bill 2014

The Social Welfare Bill 2014 gives legislative effect to one of the most important and significant social protection measures, namely, the increase in the monthly rate of Child Benefit, which I warmly welcome.

Ireland as a nation is now coming out of the serious economic crisis that it faced over the past number of years, and while things are still tough, the Government is able to give back some of what had been lost, and part of this giving back is the restoration of Child Benefit, bringing the current rate from €130 to €135, with effect from 1 January 2015. This section also provides that in the case of twins, the monthly rate of Child Benefit will increase from €195 per child to €202.50 per child, while in the case of multiple births of 3 or more children, the monthly rate of Child Benefit will increase from €260 per child to €270 per child, with effect from 1 January 2015.

In addition to the increase in the monthly rate of Child Benefit being provided for in this Bill, Budget 2015 also announced the introduction of a new Back to Work Family Dividend to provide an additional incentive for families to move from welfare to work. The details of this are being developed and the required legislation for this is expected to be introduced the end of March 2015 so that the Back to Work Family Dividend can commence in early April 2015.

There are some additional measures provided for in the Budget. One of these is the increase in the Living Alone Allowance, effective from the beginning of January 2015, and the payment of a Christmas bonus (25%) to certain social welfare recipients in early December 2014 can be legislated for by way of Regulations and the necessary Regulations will be made by the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in advance of these dates.

The following other social protection measures which were announced in Budget 2015 relate to non-statutory schemes and do not require any legislative amendments and these are the new Water Subsidy worth € 100 per annum for all recipients of the Household Benefits Package and for all recipients of the Fuel Allowance who do not already receive the Household Benefits Package, the doubling of the number of employees supported by JobsPlus from 3,000 to 6,000.

There is also provision of additional funding of €12 million in 2015 for the introduction of new employment services known as JobPath and additional annual funding of € 2 million for the School Meals Programme.

Another element of social protection provisions in Budget 2015 is the introducing of an amendment to this Bill which will retain the weekly earnings disregard for working lone parents who are in receipt of the One Parent Family Payment at its current level.

Under the One Parent Family Payment scheme, the first €90 of a person's gross weekly earnings is disregarded. This means that a person can earn up to €90 per week and qualify for the full One-Parent Family Payment. This amount was intended to fall to €75 a week next year and €60 a week in 2016 - this is now not going to happen because Ireland is doing better economically and such a cut is no longer needed. If people want an example of the end of austerity budgets, this is an excellent example of that.

Some 28,000 working lone parents who are currently getting a One Parent Family Payment from the Department of Social Protection will benefit from this measure in 2015 at a cost of €8 million which will be funded from within the Department's existing allocation for next year.

Budget 2015 has recognised the role Older People have paid in the recovery of our economy. Christmas can be a time of greater financial strain for families. Budget 2015 has secured a Christmas bonus of 25% for all people on long-term social welfare payments, including pensioners. This payment will benefit over 1.16 million people.

Under Budget 2015, the Living Alone Allowance will increase by €1.30 per week, bringing the rate up from €7.70 to €9. This is a payment for both pensioners and people disabilities living alone. This is the first increase in this payment since 1996, and will benefit over 177,000 people.

The 0.6% Pension levy was introduced to help fund the Jobs Initiative. It played an important role in the positive jobs' trend with 72,000 new jobs created since the peak of the crisis in 2012. The 0.6% Pension Levy will end in 2014 and the additional 0.15% Pension Levy will expire at the end of 2015.

Ireland is doing better now. We are not out of the woods, but there is a definite and tangible improvement in the finances of the State. It is only right that this upturn is reflected in how people are supported by the provision of social protection and that means stopping planned cuts and increasing payments where possible. It also means restoring some of the cuts that had been made previously.

I commend this Bill.