John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to Senator Kelly for so generously sharing his time. I welcome the Minister to the House but we cannot welcome these cuts. Not even the Minister has suggested for a second that anyone welcomes cuts of €290 million in social protection. Any such cuts for those who qualify and are reliant on social protection are harsh. They are hard cuts that affect individuals and families. No one is defending those cuts here. In the context in which they were delivered, however, the Minister has brought off the miracle of the loaves and fishes in the way she has done it. She has tried to be fair-minded and even-handed. I commend her on her creativity in cutting the subvention to RTE by €5 million instead of imposing that cut on pensioners who rely on their television and television licence. That is the kind of creative reform we require.

It always bewilders me that while people talk about abuse and exploitation in the area of social protection, every time a Minister comes forward with reforms, people are up in arms saying it cannot be done.