Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

That is why I asked for confirmation that the Labour Party if in government would reverse these cuts, and I welcome the fact that it would reverse each and every one of the cuts contained in this Bill. We are dealing with a Bill which is odious because it targets those who are dependent.

Social welfare supports employment in the real economy and the effects will be that people working in local shops will also suffer the consequences of the Bill. It is scandalous that no attempt is made to see the full impact of this. This is arrogance by the Government. I remember two or three years ago when a document, Regulating Better, was produced by the Government on how legislation was to be put forward. Regulatory impact assessments were to be made on every Bill. I have not seen it done on this Bill. Most of us here will be able to do it for the Minister in case he does not have his Departments in order. For every person dependent on social welfare the effect will be further poverty, going without food and heating, and struggling to ensure their children go to school properly dressed and that they can travel to school on the public transport network, particularly in rural Ireland where it has been made more expensive. Thankfully, many of the families on social welfare will still benefit from free travel. However, many others not fully dependent on social welfare will have to pay.

The Minister announced a €40 once-off fuel allowance payment because of the conditions. This is welcome, but it is equivalent to only five weeks of an overall cut in social welfare payments. What about the other 47 weeks? It is a miserly once-off grant. One must consider that many of those now dependent on social welfare do not qualify because they have not been unemployed for long enough. They have been made redundant, as have quite a number of people, over the past 15 months and they do not qualify for it and will receive neither the €40 nor the fuel allowance. Other people will be affected by the various cuts. I oppose the section.

See this speech in context