I asked Deputy Conor Lenihan whether child benefits would be paid in a lump sum like last year. It was a genuine question. We all know that much was made about the payment of the lump sum in child benefit. This year it is a different story. We have heard from Government backbenchers, among whom the Government commands considerable support, whatever about among the general public, who are openly talking about limiting child benefit. They were not talking about that last year. There was no mention in the envelope with the cheque last year that their could be a possibility that Government backbenchers might decide to limit the number of people to whom child benefit could be paid in the future but, alack and alas, that was before the general election.
It would have been terrible if an unsuspecting public got wind of what was in store for it before the general election. There is a difficulty with this payment. The increase works out at 3 cent per day. We must wait to hear from the Government backbenches how it will be paid, but if it was paid in a lump sum, it would require special packaging that would carry coins of a small denomination.
Much has been said about nothing. Much has been said about the various social welfare increases, but the fact is each payment has been eroded by the increases in taxation and VAT. Every item purchased in a household will be hit by VAT. A great deal has been said about the old age pension. Take old age pensioners who smoke. They will be in a different position after the budget and this Bill because their increase has gone up in smoke. If they have a little tipple, a drink of spirits, they are in trouble. What a Social Welfare Bill. What an awful thing to deprive people who are retired and gave their life's labour to the country. What a mean scoundrel type of act at this time of year when it is supposed to be a time for giving. In this case it is a time for taking away.
There was a headline in one of the national newspapers a few years ago which stated it was pay back time. I did not know precisely what was meant by that phrase at the time, but I know now. This is pay back time because all the unfortunate people who voted for the Government parties are being paid back. Let there be no doubt about this and all the huffing and puffing from the Government backbenches about what they were going to do, when and how often is to no avail. The budget has come and gone and now we have the Social Welfare Bill which gives effect to the changes in the budget, but, unfortunately, they are not for the better. They are a retrograde step.
As regards capping the rent subsidy which is administered jointly through the health boards and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, I do not know from where the notion came to apply a cap at this time. The theory is that rents are becoming too expensive. If it is not paid in the scarce housing position that exists, the unfortunate people concerned will have no home. This has been the trend for the past five or six years. Year on year, instead of building local authority houses the Departments of Health and Children and Social and Family Affairs operate the rent allowance scheme. We have come to the end of the tunnel. It is not that there is light there but a brick wall. The people cannot go any further. What will happen in the next few months when landlords want a rent increase and people are told by the health boards, as agents for the Department of Social and Family Affairs, they cannot get an increase in the rent allowance and to leave their present accommodation? They will be left on the side of the road. It is easy for me to say that here, but in the near future the reality will dawn on those who are directly affected.
The unfortunate officials are being conditioned through the health boards and the advice given by the Department is to take no nonsense from public representatives, that they have no hand, act or part to play in these matters and that they should not come to them for advice or to make representations. I have tabled a matter on the Adjournment tonight to deal with the issue in greater detail. My advice to whoever is saying this to those unfortunate officials is that there has been enough colonialism, leave the officials alone, they were able to do their job without getting political advice. Any attempt by anyone in Government from either party to exclude the public from access to their public representatives would be a very dangerous precedent. If I find public officials are telling constituents to avoid members of the Opposition, there are ways to resolve the matter. I have no doubt but that advice is being given and in such a way as to indicate that it has the full political imprimatur. I do not propose to speak about it further at this point other than to say it is unfair to the officials concerned to expect them to behave in this fashion. It is wrong of Departments to attempt to colonise officialdom in this fashion and totally alien to the public service.
This is a time for giving, a time of goodwill. Some time ago a number of FÁS schemes imploded. That is not the direct responsibility of this Department, but it will impact on its expenditure. A number of people were on FÁS training and retraining schemes where the agencies which employed them found them very beneficial. It was found that it was beneficial in terms of retraining and education. The job the people concerned were doing was environmentally enhancing. It is very sad that there should be a curtailment in the operation of these schemes, particularly at a time when there is a general restriction in funding to various Departments. The knock on effect will be that more people will be pushed on to the live register. There are already signs that this is happening. I did not hear anyone on the Government benches mention an increase in unemployment levels. The trend in unemployment is upward and alarming.
We have heard a great deal about the fact that economies throughout the world are going badly, but there was nothing wrong with this economy until the Government started tinkering with it. It fiddled with it to such an extent that it lost control and everyone has to pay back. That is the real meaning of the pay back. In its efforts and zeal to achieve the ultimate objective, that of an overall majority, prior to the last general election the Government decided to put the pedal to the floor and go for it for all it was worth. That request went out to all Departments. Suddenly the hand brake was pulled. The whole thing was spun around. There was a screeching of tyres, a smell of burning rubber. In all such situations the price is paid by the most vulnerable in society. I have never in my life had more people at my clinic requesting help from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other agencies. The reason they need more help than ever before is that instructions have been applied through the various Government agencies to the health boards in relation to supplementary welfare because of the so-called reviews, or cutbacks. That is sad, because supplementary welfare is there to ensure that there is a safety net for those who are in need, when they are in need. There now appears to be a concerted effort to ensure that each applicant for social welfare payments will have to wait. The latest thing is a waiting list for the processing of applications: this is also a saving device.
I am sorry my time has expired because there is so much I would like to say, very little of it complimentary to the Bill. I bear no malice to the Minister in the House or the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, but it is a sad reality that after five years of unprecedented wealth generation in this so-called tiger economy, we have heaved a sigh at the end of it and produced so little, in view of the expectations created before the general election.