I am pleased to speak in support of the Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025. The Bill introduces significant and welcome changes. It finalises the arrangements for the new automatic enrolment system, which will ensure that all employees have access to a pension, and also gives effect to the improvements set out in the budget. It is important to put the scale of that budget package on the record. In 2026, overall social protection expenditure will rise from roughly €26.9 billion in 2025 to €28.9 billion. That is an increase of around €2 billion, or almost 7.5%, in a single year. It is not something that happened by accident. It reflects political choices at Cabinet and strong, determined negotiation by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary. He has secured a substantial envelope for his Department so that we can support pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, families and jobseekers in a sustainable way. At the centre of this Bill is the €10 per week increase in core social welfare rates from January 2026. That means higher payments for State pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, jobseekers and one-parent families, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates. Maternity, adoptive, paternity and parent’s benefit will also increase from €289 to €299 per week. For households that are stretched, that is not an abstract figure. It is the difference between keeping the lights on, covering the weekly shop or managing school costs without slipping into arrears. The Bill underpins a very significant child poverty package. The child support payment is being increased to €78 per week for children aged 12 and over and €58 per week for younger children. We all know that adolescence is expensive. Families with teenagers in lower income households are also under pressure, and this is a very direct way of recognising that reality. Working families are being supported through higher working family payment thresholds, up by €60 per week for all family sizes, and by allowing families on the working family payment to qualify for fuel allowance, which is backdated to January. That rewards work, supports families and targets help to those who most need assistance with their energy bills. A particularly important part of this Bill is the package for carers and people with disabilities. From January, the maximum rates of carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit will rise by €10 per week. From July 2026, we will see the largest ever increase in the carer’s allowance income disregard, up to €1,000 per week for a single person and €2,000 for a couple. The income limit for carer’s benefit will rise to €1,000 per week. That is a major recognition of the fact that many carers also work outside the home, and the State should not punish a family in those circumstances. For children with significant additional needs, the domiciliary care allowance will increase by €20 per month to €380. People on disability allowance or the blind pension who move into work will keep their fuel allowance for five years and will qualify for the back to work family dividend. The wage subsidy scheme is being simplified and strengthened so that employers are better supported to hire and retain workers with disabilities. There are serious, practical measures too. They will not resolve every case that comes through a constituency office or at a clinic, but they are a clear statement that this Government sees carers and people with disabilities and is prepared to back that recognition with resources. I do want to say, however, that I believe we have further to go. Carers still face a heavy means test regime and a lot of paperwork at exactly the time when their energy should be focused on the person for whom they are caring. The big increases in income disregards are very welcome and I strongly support them, but my view is that, over the next four budgets, we should move further away from strict means testing for full-time family carers. Long-term caring is also a contribution to the State, not just a private matter for the household, and our system should increasingly reflect that. The second part of the Bill deals with the automatic enrolment retirement savings system. The original Act was a landmark reform designed to bring hundreds of thousands of workers automatically into a pension, with employers contributing and State top-ups. That is essential if we want today’s younger and lower paid workers to have a decent income in retirement. It has been spoken about time and again in this Chamber, and this is actual practical action. The amendments here are mainly technical ones and follow on from feedback on the original Act. They will help ensure that automatic enrolment works in practice, not just in theory. To conclude, this is a good and necessary Bill. It delivers on budget 2026 in a way that will put extra money in the pockets of pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, jobseekers and low-income families. It strengthens supports for children, especially teenagers in lower income households. It improves incentives for people with disabilities to take up work and it clears the way for automatic enrolment to get fully up and running. I want to acknowledge the work of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and his officials in securing a strong allocation for his Department in the budget of 2026 and in targeting those resources where they are most needed. If we remain focused on that over the next four budgets, and if we continue to make progress on issues like the means testing of carers, we can look back on this period as one in which social protection did what it was supposed to do: protect people, enable participation and give all families a fair chance. Tá áthas orm tacú leis an mBille.

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