SEANAD REPORT: An improvement in payments for widows, which the Minister for Social and Family Affairs had agreed to consider, would not be implemented for at least a year, Mr Maurice Cummins (FG) said.
He was reacting to the statement by the Minister, Ms Coughlan, that she was unable to accept a Fine Gael Amendment to the Social Welfare Bill seeking to reverse the cuts imposed on those in receipt of widows' or widowers' pensions and those getting one-parent family payments. The amendment was defeated on a vote and the Bill was passed.
Ms Coughlan said she had had a good discussion with members of the widows' association on Tuesday. She had agreed with them that for widows under 66 the baseline payment was very poor. They received €140 per week. She gave an assurance that the baseline payment would be considered.
She had also undertaken to contact all widows and widowers about the Family Income Supplement. "I agreed to evaluate what they had to say and return to them with my conclusions. I am not in a position to do anything until such time as we have completed the Social Welfare Bill and the European Conference is completed."
Mr Cummins said there was no respite at all from the present cutbacks if the Minister was trying to take the sting out of the issue by talking in terms of such a time frame. The Minister had stated that the Social Insurance Fund was €1.6 billion in surplus. Surely, the "measly" amount of money required could be taken from that fund to pay the widows?