Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

One of the more frustrating aspects of the endless finger-pointing that has been a feature of the Brexit debate is that issues which have a real day-to-day impact on people in the North, particularly those who are vulnerable and less well off, are being completely forgotten. The UK Welfare Reform Act 2012 was one of the most obnoxious pieces of legislation to come from Westminster. It was passed at Stormont with the support of Sinn Féin and the DUP. The impact of this really horrific piece of austerity is being felt by some of the most vulnerable people in the North. This austerity legislation affects all of Britain. The personal independence payment, PIP, assessment is truly obnoxious. When people need to renew their payments, they have to fill in forms that ask them questions like "are you incontinent?" and "can you wash youself?" Those who are embarrassed by such questions and would rather not answer them can have their payments cut off. I do not know whether other Deputies have seen the Ken Loach film "I, Daniel Blake". This is the incarnation of the stuff passed at Stormont, but it is now being implemented. Somebody with stage 4 cancer recently had their PIP payment cut off. Someone else who was shot in the head at the age of 15 years and has been suffering from depression ever since has been denied their payment. A similar point can be made about universal credit, another so-called welfare reform. Incredibly, one receives welfare payments for up to two children only. If someone has more than two, he or she cannot receive a welfare payment for the third or fourth child unless he or she has been a product of rape. The stuff being imposed in the North is absolutely incredible. Are these matters discussed at the British-Irish Council? They are having a real impact on some of the most vulnerable people in the North in the most obnoxious way.

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