PSU? It is “victory”. The minister, the “newness” (and the “preferential partner”)

Nthe day on which the Single Social Service was adopted in a final vote in Parliament, the Minister for Work was at SIC News where he considered that this ‘green light’ represents “a victory for the country”. Mary of the Rosary Palma Ramalho also said that this diploma brings “accountability” and spoke in the “preferential partner”.

“From the point of view of what happened today, we had a victory for the country, because it was possible to change the paradigm of a social security system that was very annihilated, with many benefits, very difficult to perceive for the beneficiaries – for a single provision that is easy, aggregating, that allows to protect but also allows to leave the dependency situation”, said Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, adding: “I think this is beneficial for the system as a whole”. 

On one of the most controversial issues, the minister explained that “we never talked about social work, nor was it ever in the text of the diploma”. “Truly, it is not a job in its own sense, it does not intend to replace any jobs. The expression of the previous diploma is that it was socially useful work, ours was never that ", vincou. 

And he added: “It was never anything like Draconian, tax on people, as the Socialist Party and other Left parties said in the early days when the diploma appeared.”. 

Not recognizing “no way” that there is “a retreat”, Palma Ramalho said that “what there is is negotiation”: “Because we, in fact, are a government that governs in a relative majority, so we have great duties: the first is to reform, because we were elected to reform – if the Portuguese had wanted to elect some party just to manage the day-to-day they had certainly elected the PS, because it was what they did for eight years.“

As for the activities of social solidarity, the labor minister pointed out that these “were already foreseen in exactly the same way in the current regime”, and the government “did not change this matter”. “ We changed the designation”.

Whereas this was a question of “an overexcited detail”, the minister stressed that “people have to make themselves available for all these things [Work, Training and Solidarity Activity] in the sense that then, in their insertion plan – also there is foreseen from the beginning – it will be determined which is the most appropriate for you”.

“To say that, in this respect, there was no obligation, and I was a little surprised by the tone of inhumanity, of compulsory work. There was someone until they spoke of slave labor, imagine ", said Palma Ramalho.

The Labour Minister then pointed out “an issue that is actually different”: “We hold people more responsible for the obligations they assume, whether they are working or training, in the sense that the current regime, what it ensures is a minimum income for people to live – which it also continues to guarantee – but does not ensure well the other important part of the system that is to be a trampoline for the person to regain their autonomy“. 

“ And proving that is, for example, an overwhelming number, which is only 8% of the people who receive today the so-called Social Income of Insertion again have their own incomes ", said. 

A “great news” of this diploma – “it is not the activity of social solidarity, which already existed” – is to have “an enhanced component of incentive to work, making it no longer more advantageous to continue receiving a grant (and to live badly) instead of going back to work”. 

“Enough would have been our preferred partner in this case”

Palma Ramalho pointed out, in the same interview with SIC Notícias, that “the Enough would have been our preferred partner in this case for a very simple reason: because the Aquida said in principle that it would agree and the PS said in principle that it would not be”. 

“ It turns out that Enough has established a set of demands whose constitutional compliance seemed difficult to us“, stressed the minister, referring to the issue of emigrants having to live in Portugal 5 years with social security contributions.

“ This is a provision of minimum dignity of life, it is a provision of a non-contributory regime. And therefore, a year must be to avoid the so-called ‘call effect’ – that people come to Portugal only for this purpose,” he added. 

To remember that Parliament approved on Thursday, in general and in overall final vote, the proposal for a law authorising the Government to create the Single Social Service, after an agreement between PSD/CDS-PP and PS.

The proposal was voted in the plenary session this afternoon and received the votes for PSD and CDS-PP, abstaining from IL and PS and voting against the Aquira, Livre, PCP, BE, PAN and JPP.