The Government has taken a U-turn on one of the controversial cuts in disability benefit contained in Budget 2012 after parents of children affected raised concerns, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said today.
Under the changes announced by Ms Burton on Monday, new claimants of disability allowance aged under 25 will have their payment reduced from €188 per week to €100 for people aged 18-21 and to €144 per week for those aged 22-24.
“I’ve listened particularly to parents, parents of severely disabled children, who have said that they fear that children who are 14 and 15 years of age could lose out when this reform comes into place," the Minister said today.
“I’ve listened to that and I’ve discussed it with my colleagues and, as the Taoiseach said earlier this morning, the reform is paused.”
In an interview on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Burton said concerns over 16 and 17-year-olds receiving a full social welfare payment had been discussed by previous ministers, the IMF and Troika
“Should that payment in respect of a child not go to the parents who are caring for the child?” she said. “Personally I think that’s an important principle.”
Ms Burton said she made a strategic decision to maintain core social welfare and child benefits rates, despite criticisms over reductions for third and subsequent children.
“I think the core issue here is to preserve the principal of a universal child benefit payment to every mother, caring parent, in respect of each child,” she added. “There had to be savings found. As I say, I made a difficult choice and I can understand people affected criticise.”
Earlier, Taoiseach Enda Kenny signalled the U-turn when he told the Dáil the proposal to increase the age of entitlement for new claimants of disability benefit from 16 to 18 would be “paused”.
Somebody entitled to disability benefit, who turns 16 on or after January 1st will be able to draw their disability payment as before, he said. The measure to stop this payment until 18 will not now be included in the Social Welfare Bill which will be debated and completed tomorrow and Friday.
“This is a case where Government has actually listened to people who have brought out particular circumstances surrounding very sensitive issues,” Mr Kenny said.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said the Government “should have listened to people" before announcing the cuts. He said the Taoiseach should acknowledge it as a mistake and admit it was wrong. “Don’t try to do a smokescreen,” he said. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, described the Government as “sleeveens” and called on the Taoiseach to reverse all the cuts.
However, Mr Kenny said he would not instruct Ms Burton to restore other payments until the working group on the taxation of social welfare payments considers the issue.
During a phone-in with members of the public on Pat Kenny's radio programme on RTÉ this morning, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said the changes were "sanctioned" by Ms Burton - who had to shave €475 million from her department’s budget - "with the absolute best of intentions … but we will revisit it.”
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin, who also took part in the show, said it "genuinely wasn't as a cost-saving measure". It was a reform measure, he insisted, adding that the Government had not intended for the people affected to lose money.
The cut emerged as the politically most damaging of the budget, with backbenchers from both Coalition parties trenchantly opposing the measure.
One TD described it as the only “hornets’ nest” issue to have emerged in a severe budget that featured €3.8 billion of adjustments.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said the decision was taken in the context of “very difficult budget decisions”.
He said the decisions was made that people should be treated the “same as every one else at 16” but because of concerns that “some people obviously are very disabled and can’t get involved in any normal activities like being at school at 16” the measures will be looked at again.
Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins said it is “incumbent” on the Government to address the issue. “I think the Government needs to act on the acknowledgement of Michael Noonan yesterday that it was essentially wrong," he said. “There’s nothing wrong in saying we got something wrong and let’s go and fix it."
The cut in the allowance was the main reason newly elected TD for Dublin West Patrick Nulty voted against the Government in a Budget vote last night.
He was expelled last night from the Labour parliamentary party. “It is profoundly unfair . . . The poor, the old and the sick have suffered enough. That has to stop, and I will be voting against measures which undermine their living conditions,” he said.
Mr Nulty, a TD for only six weeks, announced yesterday evening he could not support what he called an unjust budget that clearly breached Labour’s pre-election pledges. He appeared on the plinth of Leinster House at about 5.30pm to say he opposed cuts to the disability allowance and fuel allowance, health cuts, cuts to one-parent families and the increase in the standard rate of VAT.
He is the third Labour TD out of 38, following Willie Penrose and Tommy Broughan, to have lost the party whip since Labour entered coalition nine months ago.
A special meeting of Fine Gael TDs and Senators was convened to discuss the cuts in disability allowance, chaired by Mary Mitchell O’Connor. It was attended by over 40 members.
Arising from the discussion a delegation of four Fine Gaels TDs – Joe McHugh, Damien English, Simon Harris and Kieran O’Donnell arranged a meeting with Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton last night to seek a reversal of the more punitive elements of the cuts.
Similarly, at a meeting of Ms Burton’s party last night, some 16 TDs spoke against the measure. A Labour TD who spoke on condition of anonymity said all of the parliamentary party were talking about it. “There was a lot of disquiet among Deputies and Senators that the measure was going to cause unnecessary pain.