The object of this Bill is to obtain legislative authority for the increases in old age and blind pensions, and widows non-contributory pensions, which were forecast by the Minister for Finance in his financial statement on 4th May, 1955, to come into effect as from Friday, 29th July, 1955.
For old age and blind pensioners, the increase is 2/6 a week, added to each of the present statutory rates, which are 21/6, 16/6, 11/6 and 6/6. About 166,000 pensioners will benefit by these increases, including about 6,000 blind pensioners.
When the inter-Party Government took office in 1948, the maximum rate of old age and blind pension under the Old Age Pensions Acts was 10/- a week. Cash supplements to pension were also being paid, at 5/- a week in urban areas and 2/6 a week in rural areas. Public assistance authorities had power, in rural areas, to grant a further supplemental allowance not exceeding 2/6 a week to pensioners in necessitous circumstances, recovering 75 per cent. of the cost from State funds. Under the Social Welfare Act, 1948, new inclusive pension rates were fixed, the maximum being increased to 17/6 a week, and the various supplemental schemes were discontinued.
Early in 1951 the inter-Party Government decided to increase these pensions still further, and to raise the maximum to 20/- a week. This was announced in the Dáil on 2nd March, 1951, by Deputy Norton, who was then Minister for Social Welfare. Before this promise could be implemented, there was a change of Government, but the new Minister, my predecessor, promoted legislation which gave effect to it in the Social Welfare Act, 1951, under which the increases were allowed as from 5th October in that year.
Under the Social Welfare Act of 1952, the maximum rate was increased to 21/6 a week as from 4th July, 1952, to counter-balance the increased cost of food when subsidies were reduced. The present Bill will bring the maximum up to 24/- a week.
I feel sure that there will be little, if any, objection to granting these increases to the aged and the blind. On the other hand, there may be some who will say that 2/6 a week is not enough. To these I would point out that the Government would be very glad to give greater increases but for the fact that even a small increase for each pensioner involves finding a large additional sum when there are so many to be paid. The 2/6 increase now being provided will cost £1,085,000 in a full year. This, added to the provision for old age and blind pensions in the current year's Estimates, which is £9,420,000, would bring the total for a year to £10,505,000.
Approximately 28,000 widows who are in receipt of non-contributory pensions will also get increases of 2/6 a week as from 29th of next month. If the widow has one dependent child, she will get an additional 1/- a week, and if she has two or more dependent children the addition will be 2/- a week, along with the 2/6. The yearly cost of these increases will be about £199,000, which will bring the total estimated cost of widows' non-contributory pensions in a full year up to £1,799,000.
When the inter-Party Government took over in 1948, widows' non-contributory pensions were being paid at 11/6 a week in county boroughs, 10/- in urban districts, 7/6 in small towns and 8/- in rural areas. All these figures are inclusive of the cash supplements which were being paid with the pensions. Under the Social Welfare Act, 1948, the supplements were discontinued; and the pension rates were increased to 14/- a week in the county boroughs and urban districts and 10/- a week elsewhere.
Widows' non-contributory pensions were again increased by the Social Welfare Act, 1952, when the maximum pension for a widow with two or more dependent children became 32/- a week. The present Bill increases this to 36/6 as from 29th July, 1955, so that in such cases the increase is 4/6 a week.
The total number of persons who will receive increases of from 2/6 to 4/6 a week under this Bill will be about 194,000. This will bring the total annual cost of old age and blind pensions, and widows' non-contributory pensions, up to about £12,304,000. This is a large sum in relation to the total expenditure by the Exchequer, but it will not be grudged as it helps to make life easier for the most necessitous and deserving classes in the country.