Tá sé de phríomh chuspóir ag an mBille seo na méadaithe ó'n gcéad lá de Shamhain seo chugainn i níocaíochtaí Chúnaimh Shóisialaigh agus na moltaí chun feabhsú na scéimeanna Árachais ó thosach Eanáir seo chugainn a fógraíodh sa Cháinaisnéis do chur i bhfeidhm. Tá roinnt feabhsanna eile ins an mBille freisin ar chúnamh sóisialach, árachas sóisialach, agus ar an scéim árachais fliuch-aimsire.
Forálann an Bille go méadófar ar na rátaí uilig pinsean sean-aoise agus daille neamh-ranníocach agus pinsean neamh-ranníocach baintrí atá ann do réir 2/6d. i naghaidh na seachtaine. Gheobhaidh faighteoir cúnaimh dífhostaíochta méadú do réir 2/6d. i naghaidh na seachtaine i n-a leith féin, agus méadú breise do réir 2/6d. i naghaidh na seachtaine i leith cleithiúnaí aosaithe. Tá feabhsanna móra dá ndéanamh maidir le liúntais faoi na hAchtanna Liúntas Leanaí. Tá liúntas nua do réir 10/- i naghaidh na míosa dá thabhairt isteach do'n chéad nó do leanbh aonair cáilithe i gclainn agus tá an liúntas atá ann do'n tríu agus do gach leanbh cáilithe eile dá méadú faoi 4/6d. i naghaidh na míosa. Gheobhaidh duine le triúr leanbh liúntais míosúla de 52/- i n-ionad 37/6d. faoi láthair agus gheobhaidh duine le cúigear leanbh liúntais do réir 105/- i n-ionad 81/6d.
Is iad seo na méadaithe a éiríonn de bhárr moltaí na cáinaisnéise ar an dtaobh cúnaimh shóisialaigh.
Ina theannta sin, tá feabhsanna eile dá ndéanamh maidir le cúnamh sóisialach. Tá ráta nua pinsin sean-aoise neamhranníocaigh dá bhunú do réir 5/- i naghaidh na seachtaine chomh maith le leathnú ar an dteorainn bliantúil acmhainne ó £130 15s. go £143 15s. Maidir le pinsean neamh-ranníocach baintrí, soláthraítear íocaíocht liúntais a íoctar i leith leanaí mar chuid de na pinsin sin do leanaí áirithe a thosnaíonn ar chónaí go rialta leis an mbaintrigh i ndiaidh bás a céile agus nach bhfuil an liúntas iníoctha leo faoi láthair. Táthar dá mholadh freisin go nathrófar an chaoi i n-a n-áirmhítear luach bliantúil caipitil ag breithniú acmhainn baintrí nó linbh le haghaidh forálacha pinsin neamhranníocaigh baintrí nó dílleachta.
Ar an dtaobh árachais soláthruíonn an Bille méadú do 5/- i naghaidh na seachtaine ar na rátaí bunaidh pearsanta de shochar míochumais agus dífhostaíochta, liúntas máithreachais, phinsean baintrí (ranníocach) agus phinsean sean-aoise (ranníocach), agus tá an ráta seachtainiúil speisialta sochair míchumais agus dífhostaíochta do mhná pósta agus do dhaoine faoi ocht mbliana déag d'aois á árdú do réir 4/-.
Soláthraítear freisin méadaithe ar na liúntais atá iníoctha leis na sochair sin i leith cleithiúnaí aosaithe. Tosnóidh na rátaí nua sa chéad sheachtain d'Eanáir, 1964. Tá rátaí nua ranníoca fostaíochta soláthraithe sa Bhille. Is é an méadú is mó 1/4d. i naghaidh na seachtaine, nó 8d. an duine do'n fhostóir agus do'n duine árachaithe.
Seachas na méadaithe ar rátaí, tá roinnt leasaithe eile ar an dlí dá dhéanamh ar thaobh an árachais, mar atá, sainmhíniú nua ar "sheirbhís tighis" dá thabhairt isteach agus múinteoirí i gColáistí Traenála Eolaíocht Teaghlaigh dá gcur ar aon bhonn le múinteorí eile i gcúrsaí árachais. Maidir leis an scéim pinsean ranníochach sean-aoise, soláthraítear go mbeidh teideal uathoibritheach ag baintrigh pinsinéara sean-aoise (ranníocach) do phinsean baintrí (ranníocach) i n-ionad sochair faoi leith a bhí iníoctha cheana do réir ráta níba lú agus a bhí gan liúntais dá leanaí má b'ann dóibh. Táthar freisin le rialacháin a dhéanamh chun go mbeifear i n-ann méadú i leith cleithiúnaí aosaithe ar phinsean sean-aoise (ranníocach) a íoc díreach leis an gcleithiúnaí i gcásanna áirithe Táthar freisin chun a sholáthar go mbeifear i n-ann liúntas linbh i gcás pinsin baintrí (ranníocach) a íoc i leith leanaí áirithe a thosnaíonn ar chónaí go rialta leis an mbaintrigh i ndiadh bás a céile díreach mar a dúirt mé cheanna maidir le pinsean baintrí neamhranníocach.
Soláthraíonn an Bille freisin mionathraithe sa scéim fliuch-aimsire. An chéad cheann díobh seo ligfidh sé do dhaoine a bhfuil 18 mbliana slánuithe acu (i n-ionad 21 mar atá) bheith mar oibrithe oilte nó neamh-oilte agus faoi na rátaí níos aoirde sochair agus ranníoca is cuí do'n dá aicme sin. Faoi'n dara athrú acu seo beidh sochar fliuch-aimsire iníoctha i leith leathuaire breise nuair a bhíonn leath-uair breise san áireamh i stad oibre a leanann ar feadh lae iomlán oibre.
As Senators will have seen from the explanatory memorandum circulated with the Bill, the Bill is primarily concerned with giving legislative effect to the increases in the rates of non-contributory, old age, blind and widows' pensions, children's allowances and unemployment assistance which were announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement on 23rd April last and also the increases in rates of social insurance benefits foreshadowed in that statement. In addition, the Bill proposes some further improvements in the social assistance and insurance codes and in the Intermittent Unemployment or Wet-Time Insurance Scheme.
For the convenience of Senators, I will deal first with the social assistance increases and improvements which are intended to come into operation on 1st November next. The increases proposed in the rates of non-contributory old age and blind pensions are 2/6d. a week which will bring the new rates of those pensions to 35/-, 30/-, 25/-, 20/-, 15/- and 10/-, according to the means of the pensioner as set out in the table to Section 2.
A recipient of unemployment assistance will get an increase of 2/6d. a week in respect of himself and a similar increase for an adult dependant, if he has one. This will make the maximum rate for a married man with a dependant wife but no dependant children 47/6d. a week in an urban area, and 39/6d. in a rural area. The rates of widows' non-contributory pension are also to be increased by 2/6d. a week and the proposed new rates are shown in the table in Section 4.
The children's allowances scheme is being extended by the payment of an allowance at the rate of 10/- a month in respect of the first child in a household. This will result not only in payment being made for the first child in each of the existing families in receipt of allowances — some 225,000 in all — but will provide allowances for an estimated 84,000 one-child families who are not at present receiving allowances. In addition, the rate of allowance for the third and each subsequent qualified child in a household is to be increased by 4/6d. a month from 22/- at present to 26/6d. The effect of these increased payments can, perhaps, best be shown by a few examples — the monthly allowance for a family of three children for instance will go up from £1 17s. 6d. to £2 12s. 0d. while for a family of five, the new rate will be £5 5s. 0d. as against £4 1s. 6d.
As I have mentioned, some other improvements on the Social Assistance side are also included in the Bill. The first of these relates to non-contributory old age and blind pensions and is, in fact, dealt with in Section 2 of the Bill. The increase of 2/6d. in each rate of pension would result in a new minimum pension rate of 10/-, which would be payable where the yearly means of the pensioner exceeded £117 15s. but did not exceed £130 15s. As the weekly rates of Old Age Pension vary, according to the means of the pensioner, by steps of 5/-, it has been decided to add a further step by introducing a rate of pension of 5/-weekly to be payable where the yearly means exceed £130 15s. but do not exceed £143 15s. This is in line with last year's Act under which two new rates were added at the bottom of the scale giving a new minimum rate of pension of 7/6d. which, under the present Bill, is to be increased to 10/-. The new step is included in the Table in Section 2.
A second improvement concerns widows' non-contributory pensions where at present an allowance as part of pension may be paid only in respect of a child who normally resides with a widow and who resided with her or her husband immediately before he died or who, being a child or step-child of the husband, became normally resident with the widow after his death. It is now proposed that this allowance should also be paid in respect of a grand-child of the widow or her late husband, a child or step-child of the widow or a child who is adopted by the widow after her husband's death— the basic qualification still being that the child is normally resident with the widow within the meaning of the rules made for that purpose under the Children's Allowances Acts.
The Bill also proposes to ease the method of calculating the value of capital or property invested or capable of investment for purposes of the non-contributory widows' or orphans' pension scheme. Since that scheme was introduced in 1935, the yearly value of such capital or property has been calculated by ignoring the first £25, taking 5 per cent of the next £375 and 10 per cent of any excess over £400. The same method has applied in relation to non-contributory old age pensions since 1919, where it can be justified on the basis that it gives a means assessment commensurate with the return that may be obtained by surrendering the capital for an annuity at age 70. It operates too severely in relation to widows under that age, especially those with children and I feel sure that Senators will agree that some concession is justified in the case of widows to assist them in making the serious economic adjustment with which the great majority of them are normally faced on the death of the husband and particularly in relation to the education of any children which they may have.
It is therefore proposed that for widows' and orphans' pensions purposes the amount of capital to be ignored should be increased from £25 to £100 in all cases, that a further sum of £100 should be ignored for each qualified child normally residing with a widow, and that any remaining balance should be assessed at 5 per cent. The revised method of assessment would for example allow a widow with two qualified children to qualify for a pension at minimum rate if she has capital amounting to £3,955 as against £2,040 at present.
The yearly cost of the proposed social assistance increases and improvements is estimated at £4,000,000, comprised of £761,000 in respect of non-contributory old age and blind pensions, £181,000 in respect of unemployment assistance, £178,000 in respect of non-contributory widows' pensions and £2,880,000 in respect of children's allowances, including £1,857,000 in respect of the new allowance for the first child. In the current financial year, the cost will be in the region of £1,688,000 since the increases take effect from the beginning of November next.
I now come to the provisions of the Bill relating to social insurance schemes. Section 15 of the Bill provides for an increase of 5/- weekly in the basic personal rates of disability and unemployment benefit, maternity allowance, widow's (contributory) pension and old age (contributory) pension for an increase of 4/- a week in the special weekly rate of disability and unemployment benefit for married women and persons under 18 years. Provision is also made to increase the allowances payable in respect of adult dependants by 5/- in the case of unemployment and disability benefit and 2/6d. in the case of old age (contributory) pension. The increased rates of disability and unemployment benefit and maternity allowance and of the associated dependants' allowances will come into effect on the 6th January, 1964. The new rates of widows' (contributory) pension and old age (contributory) pension and the allowances payable with them, will come into effect on 3rd January, 1964, the first normal payday in the New Year.
Senators will appreciate that these increased rates of benefit will heavily increase expenditure from the Social Insurance Fund and an increase in rates of contribution by employers and insured persons is, therefore, unavoidable. New rates of employment contributions are provided for in Section 14, while increases in rates of voluntary contribution are provided for in Section 8. The maximum increase in employment contribution is 1/4d. per week, or 8d. each for employer and insured person, in the case of those contributions which count for all benefits. Contributions which give title to limited number of benefits are being increased by an amount related to the cost of the increases in those benefits only. A table comparing the existing contribution rates with the new rates which will be effective from 6th January, 1964, is given in the Explanatory Memorandum circulated with the Bill.
It is estimated that the increased contributions by employers and workers will increase the income of the Social Insurance Fund by £1,718,000 a year. The increases and improvements in social insurance benefits provided in this Bill will cost the Social Insurance Fund an estimated additional £2,379,000. The additional excess of expenditure over income to be borne by the State will thus amount to £661,000 in a full year making the total State contribution to the Fund about £8,643,000 in a full year, some 36.5 per cent of the total income of the Fund.
The Bill also includes some provisions designed to clarify the law and effect some improvements in relation to social insurance. A reduced rate of employment contributions which does not count for unemployment benefit purposes is paid in respect of females employed in domestic service. The term "domestic service" as originally defined in the Social Welfare Act, 1952, was intended to confine the expression to domestic service given in the home. However, difficulties of interpretation have since arisen and provision is made in Section 7 to ensure that domestic service rendered mainly in relation to the students in a boarding school or college is not to be regarded as domestic service for insurance purposes. The opportunity is also being taken to bring the position in regard to insurability of pensionable teachers in Domestic Science Training Colleges into line with that of pensionable national, secondary and vocational teachers generally. Pensionable teachers in domestic science training colleges are at present compulsorily insurable for all benefits and pay contributions at the full rate. However, as they are pensionable, their position is no different to that of pensionable teachers in National, Secondary or Vocational schools, for whom contributions at reduced rates, which reckon only for widows' and orphans' pensions purposes, are payable and Section 9 of the Bill makes provision to enable them to be similarly treated for insurance purposes.
Some improvements are being effected in the old age (contributory) pension scheme. In the first place, the existing provision for continuation of payment of adult dependant's allowance to former adult dependants of deceased pensioners is being replaced by provision that the widow of a pensioner will automatically qualify for a widow's (contributory) pension which will be higher than the allowance and which will also attract additions for her children under age 16, if any. The allowance as a former adult dependant will continue to be payable to widowers of deceased female old age (contributory) pensioners but the rate will correspond with the rate of widow's contributory pension.
The Bill also includes a provision whereby regulations may be made under which the allowance for a wife or dependent husband as part of old age (contributory) pension may, in certain circumstances, be paid to the dependant. Under existing law the pension, including the allowance, must be paid in full to the pensioner. This can result in hardship or serious inconvenience where the husband and wife, due to circumstances outside their control, live at different addresses, for example, where both are in need of nursing and are taken in by different relations, or where the husband fails in his obligation to maintain his wife. In this connection I might mention that if the wife is over 70 she is disqualified for receiving a non-contributory old age pension where her husband qualifies for a dependant's allowance in respect of her as part of his contributory old age pension.
Finally, in relation to social insurance, provision is made in Section 12 to enable payment of an allowance for a child as part of widow's (contributory) pension to be made for a child, grand-child, step-child or adopted child of the widow or her husband who comes to live with the widow after her husband's death. I dealt with a similar concession in relation to non-contributory widow's pension earlier.
Turning now to the wet-time insurance scheme, Senators will recall that this is a scheme of insurance which provides for payment of benefit to workers in the building, civil engineering and painting trades, when wages are lost due to stoppages of work caused by bad weather. Two changes in the scheme, which require legislation, are provided for in this Bill. There are three classes of insured persons covered by the scheme—skilled workers, unskilled workers and young persons, each class paying different contributions and receiving different rates of benefit. At present, a person may not be regarded as a skilled or unskilled worker until the beginning of the insurance year following that in which he attains the age of twenty-one. It is now proposed to reduce this age to eighteen, having regard to conditions generally in the building industry and the fact that the full rates of benefit are payable to male workers under the Social Insurance Scheme from the age of eighteen.
Again, wet-time insurance benefit is at present not payable for periods of less than an hour included in any period of a stoppage of work. Arising out of the introduction of the five-day week in the Dublin area, an 8½ hour day is in operation in that area for half of the year and a 7½ hour day for the remainder of the year. It is proposed therefore to pay wet-time insurance benefit in respect of a fraction of an hour, which is not less than half an hour, where the working day contains such a fraction of an hour and the stoppage of work extends over the full working day. The rate of payment proposed is half the appropriate hourly rate.
In conclusion, it may be helpful to summarise the cost to the Exchequer of the various proposals which I have outlined. In relation to Social Assistance, the total costs are estimated to amount to £4 million in a full year and to £1,688,000 in the current financial year. The cost to the Exchequer of the social insurance proposals is £661,000 in a full year and £250,000 in the current year. The overall cost to the Exchequer will therefore be £4,661,000 in a full year and £1,938,000 in the present year.
As a result of all the proposals in this Bill recipients of social welfare payments will benefit to the extent of approximately £6,380,000 in a full year. It gives me great pleasure to recommend this measure to Seanad Éireann.