Vol. 150 No. 13
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 6, before section 4, to insert the following new section:
"4. The Minister shall consider the possibility of increasing the personal rates of benefit of Widows and Widowers over age 66, over the course of three years, to the level of the personal rate of old age contributory pension, and place a report on this matter on the table of both Houses of the Oireachtas within three months."
There is a substantial increase this year in any event. My main priority in the area of increasing the basic rates of payments is to bring all rates up to the main rate recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare in keeping with the commitment in Partnership 2000. The cost of the improvements in rates provided for in the Bill is almost £83 million in 1997 and more than £148 million in a full year. This represents significant progress in meeting the commitment.
Most social insurance payments are now at or well above the main rate, recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare. For example, old age and retirement pensions are now 113 per cent of the CSW rate, while unemployment and disability benefit will increase from 95 to 98 per cent of the main rate. Similarly, all long-term social assistance payments are being increased from 95 to 98 per cent while short term unemployment assistance and supplementary welfare allowance payments are being increased from 92 to 95 per cent. The extent of the Government's achievements in this area is illustrated by the fact that the cost of increasing all rates to the Commission on Social Welfare rate when it took office was £150 million. However, following this year's increases, the cost will have been reduced to under £60 million.
Bringing all rates up to the main rate means that additional resources must be allocated to those payments currently below the main rate. This is the approach I adopted this year. Providing additional increases to payments which are already above the CSW rate would inevitably mean that those in greatest need would have to wait longer before their payment reached the rate recommended by the commission. The flat rate increase of £3, which I have provided for this year, represents a much more balanced approach in that it provides an increase in real terms to all recipients — for example, 4.4 per cent in the case of widows and widowers on contributory pensions and 4.7 per cent in the case of non-contributory pensions — while at the same time making significant progress in achieving the objective of bringing all payments up to the Commission on Social Welfare rate.
I move amendment No. 2:
In page 6, before section 4, to insert the following new section:
"4. In the case where a person who is in receipt of a Social Welfare benefit or assistance payment, and either that person or an adult dependant of that person dies, the Minister shall consider the implications of continuing the current payment in full for a period of six months during the first year of bereavement, and he shall place a report on this matter on the table of both Houses of the Oireachtas within three months."
The amendment is opposed.
I move amendment No. 3:
In page 6, before section 4, to insert the following new section:
"4. The recommendation of the Commission on Social Welfare in relation to a common basic payment or minimally adequate payment shall be reviewed in the context of the projected growth in the economy, and the Minister will consider whether the payments are adequate for the needs of pensioners and he shall place a report on this matter on the table of both Houses of the Oireachtas within 6 months."
I referred to this matter on Second Stage. The recommendations of the Commission on Social Welfare are used as a yardstick to analyse payments to social welfare recipients, but it is time to establish a new commission to review payments. Ten years have passed and the country has experienced huge economic growth; revenue is at an all time high. If we are serious about ensuring social welfare recipients receive the payments considered necessary to survive in today's terms, it is essential to upgrade the commission's findings. They were reached against the backdrop of harsh economic times when the country was in a poor financial state due to political ineptitude.
The amendment is timely because it is important to set a precedent over the next five or six years to ensure all social welfare payments are maintained at a proper level, given that the country now enjoys a buoyant economy compared to the period when the Commission on Social Welfare reached its findings, and which have not been updated since. The Minister should consider the amendment and accept it.
