I thank Deputies for their contributions to the debate on this important Bill. As I have indicated, one of the key issues in the referendum campaign on divorce in 1986 was the degree of uncertainty about how divorce would affect social welfare entitlements. This Bill will ensure this does not happen on this occasion. It will be clear to the electorate how divorced people will be treated under the code and they will recognise that there will be no loss of entitlements.
A number of Opposition Deputies questioned the costs of implementing the provisions of the Bill which have been estimated by my Department at £1 million by year five following the introduction of divorce and about £2 million by year ten. Deputy Joe Walsh expressed the view that £1 million could not be the cost of marital breakdown. Of course it is not — the costs of marital breakdown are already being met by the State and the social insurance fund under the existing provisions of the social welfare code. These supports are provided primarily through the lone parent's allowance and the deserted wife's benefit and allowance schemes. It is important to realise that, under the existing provisions, men or women who are separated from their spouses can qualify for survivor's pension on the death of their spouse, even though they may have been separated for many years. This Bill will ensure that a divorced person whose former spouse dies will not lose entitlement to survivor's pension. This does not give rise to additional costs as the person would have qualified for pension in any event, if they had not become divorced. Some additional costs will arise, however, on the death of a divorced person who remarries and where his or her spouse and former spouse qualify for pension.
The Bill also provides that a deserted wife may continue to be regarded as deserted for the purposes of the deserted wife's benefit and allowance schemes. These provisions will not give rise to additional costs as under the present arrangements divorce, in itself, does not affect entitlement to these payments. It was considered necessary, however, to include explicit provision for this in the Bill. Similarly, a divorced person can qualify for lone parent's allowance under the present arrangements. They can do so on the basis of being an unmarried parent, but under the provisions of the Bill they will be recognised under the social welfare code as a divorced person.
The Bill will also enable a divorced person on low pay who is supporting his or her former spouse to qualify for family income supplement. In practice, however, it is extremely unlikely that a person on low pay would be in a financial position to maintain two households.
It will be evident to Deputies therefore that, for these reasons, the additional costs arising from this Bill will be relatively low, hence the estimated costs of only £1 million by year five following the introduction of divorce and about £2 million by year ten. While £1 million is a substantial amount of money, it is important to put this figure into perspective. Total social welfare expenditure this year will be in the region of £4.2 billion and the figure of £1 million represents just 0.02 per cent of overall expenditure.
For that reason I am satisfied that the estimates my Department has provided for the costs of this Bill are accurate in so far as one can predict costs based on variables, such as the number of people who may separate in the next few years and the number who will subsequently remarry. Many other issues were raised during the debate which would be more appropriately dealt with on Committee Stage, which I hope will take place soon.
The sole purpose of the Bill is to ensure that nobody loses out in terms of social welfare entitlements in the event of getting divorced. I could have broadened the matter considerably but I felt it was necessary to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. For that reason I heartily commend the Bill to the House.