Social Welfare Bill 2023

I broadly welcome the provisions that are set out in this Bill. The social protection committee recently had a briefing from the Parliamentary Budget Office and it confirmed to me what I think is most important. The first thing I look for in any budget is if it is progressive. The Parliamentary Budget Office brought us through the various provisions and payments contained in the Bill, showing that for the fourth budget in a row we have achieved a progressive budget which means that people who are least well-off will benefit most from this budget. That is the first basic metric I try to apply to any budget and from the independent advice it seems that we are achieving that.

There are concerns about the use of one-off payments. I think the one-off payments have been necessary and merited because we found ourselves in unprecedented times particularly with the inflation in energy costs and general inflation. We have these extra incomes to the State that we do not want to rely on in terms of year-on-year recurring expenditure. Even though it might not be ideal in the longer term, making one-off interventions is a useful and merited tool to help people get over what is a very difficult period. I especially welcome things like the working family payment. Deputy Gannon expressed his disappointment at it. Research has shown that investment in the working family payment and the IQC is the magic bullet in tackling poverty. Where we find poverty most is among children of lone parents. Going after things like the working family payment and the increase for a qualified child is where we can really make a mark in combatting poverty.

We have also made movements on core payments which was merited and absolutely necessary. They were struggling to keep pace with inflation which has been very high recently. I would like to see moves towards benchmarking as set out in the roadmap for social inclusion. All of us in the House would like to move away from wondering in every budgetary recycle whether there will be a fiver on the pension. It has been a long time since it has been only an extra fiver on core welfare rates over the lifetime of this Government. Particularly for people who are on a fixed income, it is important to have the certainty that their fixed income will retain its spending power within the economy over a period of years rather than the year-on-year talk about whether it will happen.

Regarding moves on statutory sick pay, it is worth pointing out the various different types of new workers’ rights that this Government has introduced. The Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, has made significant moves on domestic violence leave, the right to request working from home and even things like the extra bank holiday. They might not necessarily sit coherently beside one another but they are extra rights that we are making available to workers which is all to the good and very welcome. I have mentioned to the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, that we are asking employers to take a lot on in a short period of time. I know that they want to do it and want to play their part particularly with increased sick leave, paid domestic violence leave and breastfeeding breaks. That might seem like a small measure but we need to meet employers halfway if they have fears about the supports that they are getting. I know the Minister is very aware that small and medium-sized enterprises are concerned about the extra stress and strain even in terms of extra PRSI they will be asked to pay as we look to plug a pensions gap that we know from our modelling we will need to fill. It is important to keep that engagement going with small and medium-sized enterprises to let them know we are trying to provide better for our workers in the economy but that we will support those businesses also.

I welcome the provisions in the budget for people who want to work beyond the age of 66. People may want to catch up on a couple of stamps or simply feel fit, well and able to continue contributing beyond their 66th birthday. Not only are we allowing that but we will apply that actuarial mechanism so that people do not lose it by not taking their pension at 66. They will actually be able to accrue those extra pension entitlements. I think that is a common-sense measure. Some people are interpreting that as a way of opening up the pension age to age 70. That is certainly not my reading of it. It is allowing people who do not want to take early retirement and want to continue to work. There are certainly some very valuable Members of Dáil Éireann who are beyond their 66th birthday and continue to make an excellent contribution here.

I also welcome the provision made for a pension for carers who have been caring for 20 years or more. It shows them that the work they are putting into the caring economy, the caring society, is recognised and valued by the State. It is a small recognition of how much we would have to pay if we were to try to replace that caring within some sort of market mechanism. It is a clear recognition that we value the work that is done and we are making pension provision for them accordingly. This type of valuing of the caring economy will become more important in the coming years as we have demographic pressures meaning that more people will require care. When we see the disruptive effects of digitalisation, the last place that the robots will come to replace people will be in the caring economy. There is an increasing need for us to value that caring economy in how we measure it in our society.