I am very pleased, as Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, to have this opportunity to present my first Bill to this House. The purpose of the Social Welfare Bill is to give effect to the improvements in social welfare schemes and services announced in the 1998 Budget and to provide for a number of adjustments and amendments to the social welfare code. The Bill addresses a number of commitments set out in the Government's Programme "An Action Programme for the Millennium" aimed at combating social exclusion and marginalisation in our community and also delivers on certain key commitments in Partnership 2000.
The resources provided by the Government in the recent budget for social welfare improvements amount to £125 million this year and £225 million in a full year. It is the largest budget package for many years — £11 million or 9 per cent higher than that provided by the previous Government last year. As a result of this year's initiatives, the commitment to spend £525 million on social inclusion measures — including social welfare rates increases — during the three year period of the Partnership has been more than exceeded in the first two years. The increased allocation of £125 million this year will bring overall spending in 1998 by my Department to £4,850 million.
Before moving to discuss the main provisions of the Bill, I would like to take this opportunity to update Members on a number of important developments which are taking place within my Department. One of the main objectives set down in the Government's Action Programme is to seek to establish an inclusive society where everyone will have the opportunity and the incentive to participate in the workforce, to contribute to the wealth of the nation and to share in the benefits of economic growth, whether or not they are engaged full-time in bringing up a family or caring for relations. The programme includes a number of key issues which the Government are determined to tackle over the coming years. These include securing the future of our older people, improving the real value of social welfare payments, developing family and community supports and investing in employability.
In our Programme for Government we are committed to increasing the rate of contributory old age pension to £100 over a five year period. In recognition of the contribution which our older people have given in developing our economy and improving the quality of life in our community, the Government decided to go beyond what is strictly required by that commitment this year. Accordingly, it has given a special increase of £5 per week in the maximum personal rates of payments to pensioners with proportionate increases for those on reduced rates of pension. The Government is also committed to providing substantial increases in other social welfare payments. In addition, Partnership 2000 guarantees that the real income position of those dependent on social welfare would be protected and enhanced and that the minimum rate recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare be implemented before the end of the Partnership in 1999.
These special increases in pensions, which represent increases of between 6.4 per cent and 7.4 per cent for those who receive them, are a clear indication of the Government's desire to fulfil the promises given in the Government Programme. As a result of these provisions, some 94 per cent of people who rely on weekly social welfare payments will now receive more than the recommended minimum rate of payment of the Commission on Social Welfare. The implementation dates for these increases is being brought forward by two weeks this year with the result that all the increased rates will be paid from the first week in June.
The position of pensions, both social welfare and occupational, and pensioners generally is also being considered in the context of the National Pensions Policy Initiative initiated by my predecessor and the Pensions Board will be submitting their report to me on this initiative in April next. The National Pensions Policy Initiative is intended to promote debate on the future overall pension policy for Ireland. It is intended to lead to properly researched proposals and options on the best way forward for the level of Irish pension provision to which the country should aspire.
The new name of my Department — the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs — reflects its wider brief in community and family affairs. This Government — both in its "Action Programme for the Millennium" and in the setting in place of specific policy provisions in this area — is recognising the vital importance of strengthening the social fabric for families. In the case of my Department, the 1998 Budget set aside £4 million for specific programmes for families, over and above the range of family income support measures channelled through the various social welfare schemes.
It is the Government's intention as promised in the Programme for Government that family policies will have a significant place on the policy agenda in the years ahead. The overall objective is to develop social policies which enable strong, confident communities to emerge starting with the fundamental and basic unit of society: the family.
Members will be aware that I expect to receive the report of the Commission on the Family shortly. I have been advised by the Commission that the report contains a comprehensive analysis of issues affecting families. The recommendations will provide the basis for the development of an integrated family policy to strengthen and assist families in coping with change and to put in place the supports to help prevent family breakdown. Due to the scope and nature of the issues involved, the finalisation of the report of the Commission on the Family has taken longer than expected. However, I expect to receive the report shortly and I intend to submit it to Government with a view to publication as soon as possible.
Dramatic changes in society, in the labour market, in gender roles and in family life generally have been well documented in recent years. The final report of the Commission on the Family will provide an overall picture of family life in Ireland at this point in our history and of the challenges facing families moving into a new century. I understand that the report will provide many new insights into our understanding of the complex web of human activity represented in today's families. New analyses and research have been brought to bear on this area and new detailed insights into, for example, the role of fathers in modern societies will be available, as will the results of a detailed survey of child care provision.
The commission brought forward some aspects of the final report for consideration in the context of preparations for the 1998 Budget. In response to the commission's recommendations, the Government has provided significant allocations for the development of family services in my Department in 1998 including, for a network of family and community services resource centres, 25 centres in 1998, an extra £600,000 for marriage counselling services, bringing the total provision in 1998 to £1.5 million and an extra £600,000 for the family mediation service for the establishment of additional centres towards the development of a national service, as per the commitment in the Programme for Government.
In addition, a new family affairs unit is being established to co-ordinate family policy, pursue the findings in the commission's final report following their consideration by the Government, undertake research and promote awareness about family issues. The unit will have responsibility for a number of family services including support for the marriage and child counselling services, the family mediation service, a pilot programme in relation to the local offices of the Department building on the "one stop shop" concept, with the aim of providing improved support at local level to families and an information programme on parenting issues.
Voluntary and community groups play an important part in improving the quality of the lives of people by helping them to develop the capacity to change their situation for the better. However, disadvantaged communities require support to enable them to realise this potential to play a real part and have a real say in their own development. The Department supports local self-help and community development initiatives through a range of grant schemes. These grants schemes are aimed at helping people develop the confidence and the capacity to participate as partners alongside statutory agencies and others in local development initiatives and to make a long term impact on poverty and social exclusion.
I am making a very considerable increase in funding available for voluntary and community services in 1998. The main features of the 1998 provision include an additional £1.37 million being provided for the Community development programme. The programme was introduced in 1990, with 15 projects and a budget of £350,000. There are now 88 projects and a budget in 1998 of £6.8 million. Work is well underway on drawing up a priority list of 30 areas to be proactively targeted for expansion of the CDP, as provided for under Partnership 2000. It is intended that the list will be finalised during the coming summer.
Following the Department's change of name, I am placing an enhanced emphasis on the grants schemes on supporting families and parenting. A new programme of core funding for Family and Community Services Resource Centres is being introduced following on the success of ten pilot projects funded since 1994. I have provided an additional £700,000 for 20 to 25 new projects in 1998. I was able recently to announce that the first of these to be approved for funding is Clogh Family Resource Centre, County Kilkenny, which will receive an annual allocation of £40,000. I met this group recently.
The schemes of grants for women's, men's and lone parents groups are being integrated in a new scheme of grants for locally-based community and family support groups. The scheme of community support for older people, under which socially-monitored alarms and small scale security works for vulnerable older people can be funded, is being continued and a further £2 million has been provided for the scheme in 1998. The scheme will be advertised over the coming weeks. There is now provision for a percentage of grants under the scheme of grants for locally-based community and family support groups to be committed for two or three years. This will give greater continuity to local groups. A total of £1.5 million is also being made available to a range of marriage and child counselling services with details to be announced shortly.
A White Paper on the voluntary sector and its relationship with statutory agencies will be published this year. This will represent a significant step in the ongoing debate on this issue. The objective of the paper will be to develop a framework for the future development of the relationship between the State and the community and voluntary sector and to facilitate a debate on the issues relevant to that relationship. A consultation process with local voluntary and community groups will commence shortly, followed by the publication of the White Paper before the end of the year.
One of the most important issues to be covered by the White Paper will be the method and source of future funding for the sector and criteria to be attached to such funding, including the setting up of independent community trusts. Community trusts or foundations play an important role in resourcing the voluntary sector in other countries. Essentially the concept is of an independent foundation which raises donations from the private sector and also from Government. Government funds can be significant initially as seed money in allowing a trust to become established and build up a stream of private sector donations. The objective is to build up a sufficient capital base to generate an income for disbursement to the community and voluntary sector.
The application of the community trust concept to Ireland could open up the possibility of generating significant additional income from the private sector for community and voluntary groups. The community trust is not a substitute for existing State funding but rather taps into the goodwill of the private sector who see society becoming more tiered. The community trust will endeavour to get the private sector to assist the Government in its work. A sum of £750,000 was provided in the budget for the establishment of a community trust. I hope to be in a position to bring forward detailed proposals in this regard shortly.
Since the Government took office, there has been much progress on the implementation of the national anti-poverty strategy. Of particular importance has been the establishment of the Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion and drugs, including local development, chaired by the Taoiseach and comprising no fewer than nine Ministers, including the Minister for Finance and me. This committee underlines the Government's commitment to establishing a more inclusive society.
A NAPS unit was set up in my Department and liaison officers have been appointed in key Departments to fill a communication and co-ordination role. It is through the network of liaison officers that the unit basically interacts with other Departments.
The approach of the first anniversary of the NAPS provides a new focus for the strategy as the implementation of its commitments begins in earnest. While 1997 saw the establishment of soundly based structures to underpin the strategy, practical initiatives are currently under way to drive the NAPS process towards its main objective of cutting the number of people living in persistent poverty by half. Departments are now submitting baseline documents, detailing where current policy impacts on social inclusion, and NAPS workplans for 1998. These comprehensive documents are intended to identify cross-departmental issues where inclusive policies and resources can be targeted effectively at those most in need and where duplication can be avoided in order to effectively advance this Government's drive against marginalisation and social exclusion.
This Bill — the first in my Department since the introduction of the NAPS — provides a number of concrete examples of this Government's determination to tackle the problems of poverty and social exclusion still being faced by some members of our society despite our booming economy. The calculation of family income supplement on a net rather than gross income basis, the extension of the back to work allowance scheme, greater allocations to voluntary and community services, substantial real increases in the value of all social welfare payments and additional support for families — all these measures are designed to impact on those who are most in need. They are part of a long-term strategy to enable people to rise above the poverty line and, through a consequent raising of dignity and sense of inclusion, to play a greater role in the society in which they live.
Given the prospective economic growth, it is forecast that employment will continue to grow rapidly over the next three years. The number of people at work is expected to rise by 48,000 in 1998 with average annual increases of about 37,000 in 1999 and 2000. The impact on unemployment will depend on the rate of increase in the labour force taking account of the effect of such factors as the levels of migration and participation in the workplace. It is notable that the most rapid growth is predicted to be in high skill occupations which require at least second level qualifications. It is essential, therefore, that we refocus our policies, including social welfare policies, to tackle the changing nature of our unemployment problem. We must move from paying income support as a response to unemployment to investing in employability so that the unemployed can share the benefits of economic growth.
A number of key measures were announced in the budget with the aim of supporting unemployed people in making the transition to work. A very positive evaluation of the back to work scheme was carried out in 1996 and published in October last year and in the light of its findings I am continuing a pattern of ongoing improvements in the scheme. These include the provision of 5,000 additional places on the back to work scheme for 1998, bringing the total to 27,000 places, and an additional year's payment for self-employment on the scheme, bringing this to four years in total.
I recently announced details of the new back to education programme embracing both the existing second and third level allowance scheme which includes a number of new features, including an increase of £50 to £150 in the annual cost of education allowance, the extension of the scheme to students receiving disability allowance or blind pensions from my Department, extending the scope of the scheme to allow unemployed people attend approved courses of education, training or development which largely are outside the realm of second and third level courses and the inclusion of a new course — the national certificate in technology — run by regional technical colleges and aimed at recruiting, educating and training technicians to fill vacancies in the information technology sector.
I will now explain the main provisions of the Bill. Section 4 provides for the increases in social insurance payments of £5 in the weekly maximum personal rate of payments to pensioners aged 66 years and over and in the maximum rates of retirement and invalidity pensions payable to people aged 65 years and over. All other personal rates of social insurance payments are being increased by £3 per week and payments in respect of qualified adults are being increased by approximately 3 per cent.
Similarly, section 5 provides that social assistance recipients aged 66 years and over will receive a £5 increase in their weekly personal rate and those under 66 years will receive £3 per week. As with social insurance payments, increases in respect of qualified adults will be approximately 3 per cent.
Section 6 provides for increases in child benefit of £1.50 for the first two children and £3 for each subsequent child, bringing the monthly rate of child benefit to £31.50 and £42, respectively. This section also introduces much needed improvements in respect of multiple births. The rate of child benefit payable in respect of twins will be one and a half times the normal rate. Also, the grants payable in respect of multiple births are being aligned so that all multiple births will receive a grant of £500 on birth and further grants of £500 at the age of four and 12 years. All these improvements will be effective from September 1998. There are 12,500 sets of twins in the country, so 12,500 families will benefit from these increases.
Section 7 provides for improvements in family income supplement. For the first time FIS will be assessed on a net basis, that is, gross income less superannuation contributions, income tax and PRSI. This improvement delivers on the commitment in Partnership 2000 to calculate entitlement to FIS on the basis of net earnings. This scheme is designed to ensure that unemployed people have an incentive to take up work and employees have an incentive to stay in work by providing an income supplement to low income families in employment. This particular improvement, which will come into effect on 1 October 1998, will bring an extra 1,600 families within the scope of the scheme in 1998 and some 7,000 in a full year.
In addition to this improvement, section 7 also provides for a general increase of £7 in the weekly thresholds for the calculation of entitlement to FIS from June of this year. As a result all current recipients will automatically benefit by at least £4 per week. In overall terms, the effect of the budget changes will mean that a two child family where the breadwinner is earning £210 per week will gain an extra £18 per week in household income.
Section 8 provides for increases in social insurance allowances, thresholds and ceilings. Under this provision the amount of an employee's earnings not subject to social insurance contributions will increase from the current £80 per week to £100 per week. The threshold under which employers are liable for the lower 8.5 per cent rate of employer contribution will increase from £260 to £270 per week and the earnings ceiling up to which social insurance contributions are payable will increase from £23,200 to £24,200 per annum for employees and from £27,900 to £29,000 per annum for employers. These changes will come into effect on 6 April. Section 9 provides for a similar increase in the income ceiling for self-employed contributors to that of employees, from £23,200 to £24,200 per annum.
Part III of the Bill provides for improvements in social welfare schemes. Section 10 provides for an easement of the rules for assessing means of certain social assistance schemes. An amount not exceeding the rate of the old age contributory pension which is received by way of a foreign social security disability pension will be disregarded from the assessment of means for carer's allowance.
Rental income will be disregarded for the purposes of widow's and widower's non-contributory pension where the rent is paid by a person who lives with the widow or widower and that widow or widower would otherwise live alone. The first £2,000 of any income received under the special areas of conservation scheme will be disregarded in assessing means for unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance and old age non-contributory pension. A similar disregard currently operates in the case of REPS income. In addition, this section provides that only half of any remaining income above the £2,000 threshold will be assessed. This measure will provide a real incentive for many smallholders to avail of these schemes.
The budget provided for further improvements for carers. These include a disregard of non-national disability pensions up to the maximum level of the old age contributory pension in assessing means and the payment of carer's allowance for six weeks after death to carers whose spouse was not in receipt of a social welfare payment. Both these improvements will be effective on the enactment of the Bill.
Another much sought improvement, which was announced in the budget, is the provision of a free travel pass to all those in receipt of a carer's allowance in their own right. As part of my commitment to improve the supports for carers, I have recently reviewed the operation of the full-time care and attention condition and have decided to adopt a more flexible approach. Carers may now attend educational training courses or participate in voluntary or community based activities for around ten hours per week provided the carer makes adequate provision for the care recipient in his or her absence. These new arrangements come into effect immediately.
In its "Action Programme for the Millennium" the Government is committed to progressively relaxing the qualifying criteria for the carer's allowance to ensure that more carers may benefit from the scheme, as well as increasing the value of the allowance in real terms.
In line with these commitments, an overall review of the carer's allowance is being carried out by an interdepartmental working group. This review is considering the purpose and development of the scheme, both in terms of its operation and its future development. It will also examine the potential for the development of provision for carers through the social insurance scheme and the role of the private sector. The review is expected to be completed by the middle of this year. It will be published and will deal with the many issues raised in this debate.
The legislative proposals contained in Part IV — sections 14 and 15 — of the Social Welfare Bill provide a framework for the development of an integrated approach to the administration, delivery, management and control of publicly funded income support services. The lack of integration between various State services has been a matter of concern for some time and there have been many calls from Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, and various commentators, for better integration and streamlining of services. It is generally recognised that this can lead to greatly improved customer service and better control of schemes and services. The proposals in this Bill build on the recommendations contained in the report of the interdepartmental group on the development of the ISSS, and on the work that has been under way in my Department for many years.
Sections 14 and 15 provide for four things, namely, the standardisation of the RSI number as a personal public service number, the introduction of a public service card on the lines of the existing social services card, the use of new technology on cards to develop new methods of paying social welfare benefits by way of direct electronic delivery to the customer and the sharing of information between relevant agencies for the purpose of determining entitlement to and control of certain social services.
The new personal public service number will replace the RSI number which is currently issued by my Department. Over three million RSI numbers have been registered by the Department since 1979 and these numbers are currently used by several public service agencies. In future it will be used as a key identifier by certain specified agencies including Government Departments, health boards, local authorities, the Revenue Commissioners, FÁS, the General Register's Office and the Legal Aid Board. The list of specified bodies may only be extended by means of regulations which will require a positive resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas.
The use of a single number across the wider public service will make for easier and speedier access to services for customers, will streamline administration within the specified bodies, will facilitate the sharing of data where such sharing is specifically provided for in legislation and will, of course, aid control of public funds.
Fears that the introduction of this number will eventually lead to a national identity number are unfounded. There are specific penalties included in this legislation for unauthorised use of this number and card.
The new public service card will replace the current social services card, of which over 1.6 million have been issued to date. The person's name, their personal public services number, the card's primary account number and date of issue will be visible on the front of the new card. The initial cards will contain a magnetic strip on the back with the person's date of birth and gender. The card's primary account number, expiry date and service code is in encoded form.
The introduction of the public service card will, over time, replace the social services card and will enable the public service number to be used as a single identifier for public administration purposes. This is a reasonable extension of the system currently in place. The public service card is not a general identity card and is not intended as such. As I said earlier, the Bill also provides penalties for unauthorised use of the card in this way.
The Bill also contains a proposal to allow for certain information to be placed on commercial cards for the purposes of paying social welfare benefits. This means that social welfare recipients may in future collect their payment via ATM machines, banks, supermarkets or a variety of retail outlets.
The Bill includes provision for the sharing of information relating to a number of the most common social services provided by various Departments or agencies. At present, for example, a person who becomes unemployed or has separated may have to undergo separate means tests for supplementary welfare allowance, a social welfare payment, a medical card and differential rents in the same week. All this can lead to a great deal of frustration among people accessing these services.
Under existing legislation, a community welfare officer — who may be dealing with the same person in relation to a medical card and a supplementary welfare allowance — is obliged by law to take down the same set of details they took in the first instance. One has the ludicrous situation where somebody seeking a medical card and a supplementary welfare allowance on the same day is obliged to give the same information to the same person twice. This provision tries to streamline that procedure so that a more efficient service can be provided to people who are in contact with State agencies in this regard.
Our aim is to put in place, over time, better administrative procedures by various State agencies which will enable them to share the latest available means data for customers. The means information will be stored on a central means database which has been developed by my Department and which will be accessible to other relevant agencies where a customer has made a claim. This will help ensure a better and quicker service for the customer and will ease some of the difficulties currently experienced in accessing such services.
It is intended that the new arrangements on data sharing will apply in the case of social welfare schemes operated by my own Department as well as certain income support schemes provided by health boards, medical cards, higher education grants, differential rents and legal aid. In effect, the information required for any of these services will only be provided once. Similarly, corrections to existing information will also be shared.
Concerns were raised during the passage of this Bill in the Dáil with regard to the protection of an individual's right to privacy. The Attorney General has confirmed that these provisions are consistent with the provisions of the 1981 Council of Europe Convention which was ratified by the Data Protection Act, 1988.
I am satisfied that the Government has addressed both the need for efficient public services and personal privacy protection in a balanced way. Indeed, there are additional safeguards with regard to privacy included in this Bill. There are penalties for the unauthorised use of the number and the card. The holder of the card may at any time request a copy of the information encoded on their card and this information may be read only by specially programmed computer systems. Data sharing will be restricted for the specific purpose of entitlement to and control of certain social services, and these services can only be added to by means of primary legislation.
Data controllers in all Government Departments and agencies who are responsible for ensuring that data protection requirements are enforced, have to be satisfied that the proposed data sharing is relevant to a specified lawful purpose.
Under existing legislation, people have the right to receive a copy of any computerised personal information held by a public body. This will be further extended when the Freedom of Information Act comes into effect on 21 April 1998.
Part V of the Bill contains miscellaneous amendments to the existing legislation affecting a number of schemes. Included are the following: provision for actuarial reviews of the Social Insurance Fund to be completed on a five-yearly basis; changes to the recovery procedures in relation to social welfare overpayments; and an extension of three months in the period for which arrears may be paid in the case of late claims for certain occupational injuries benefits.
Some Members in the other House expressed concern about the effect of section 22 of the Bill. They were concerned that these powers might be used to seek information from providers of social welfare information, advice and assistance or from a person's solicitor, doctor or confessor.
The section amends section 221 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993. This provision was first introduced in 1991 to enable regulations to be made to require certain bodies to provide information to the Department for the purpose of investigating title to a social welfare payment or for the control of social welfare schemes. In the seven years since then, the regulatory powers have been used to prescribe bodies in two instances — to seek student enrolment data from schools or colleges offering third level, repeat leaving certificate or post leaving certificate courses and to seek information from nursing homes in relation to patients in receipt of, or entitled to, a social welfare payment. I can assure Members that I have no plans to extend the current scope of these regulations.
Part VI provides for the raising of the thresholds from £197 to £207 per week above which the health contribution and the employment and training levy apply. These provisions will come into effect on 6 April.
Part VII amends section 54 of the Pensions Act, 1990, to provide regulatory powers to prescribe information to be provided by the trustees of occupational pension schemes and to whom such information is to be provided.
The Social Welfare Bill before the Seanad today demonstrates this Government's commitment to look after the needs of the most vulnerable members in our community. This is more than evident when one considers the resources which have been provided for social welfare improvements in the budget, an additional £125 million this year and £225 million in a full year.
I commend this Bill to the Seanad and look forward to a constructive and informed debate from Members.
