Results 8,561-8,580 of 9,832 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: If there were four children in the family——

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The twins get one and a half times the payments, and the triplets get twice the payment. The Minister has confirmed that it is one and a half times and twice €140, regardless of how many children are in the family. Are the triplets still getting €167?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: That has not changed.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Okay, I accept that, but that is not the information on the Department's website. If it is the case that the base rate is down to €140 — I will accept the Minister's confirmation, but the officials seem to be giving her contrary information — this means that a family with a single child and three triplets is down €31 per week. I remember the scare stories put out before that we were...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Should it not be the main spokespersons?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: With due respect to my colleague opposite, I must insist on my colleague, Senator Paschal Mooney, being heard first.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am sorry, but there is nothing personal in this.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Labour Party.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am happy to limit my comments and wait for the Minister's reply, at which stage I may have to come back in. This is a cut to a basic payment. When the people concerned receive their money every week, it is their basic income. The State calls it a basic payment. This is spin and propaganda to be able to say we have protected the basic rates when there is a specific cut for any new...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: They could be caring for anybody. There is no rule implying they should be caring for a child.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Government has not.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: There has been a lot of guff about equality.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am on section 4. We have heard a great deal of guff today. While it is great to hear civil partnership mentioned, it has nothing to do with the measure before us. Civil partners have been dragged into the net, as they always have been under the social welfare system. Irrespective of with whom one lived and whether one was married or single, income has always been taken into account....

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: This is how the cut is being dressed up.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The use of the term "civil partner" and the fact that a partner's income will be taken into account when the cut takes effect do not make it a major equality initiative. It is wrong to use this argument in defence of cuts for the most vulnerable. Senator David Cullinane made a highly relevant point in this regard. Job seekers were always treated differently from other social welfare...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Yes.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is one of the best jobs in government.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It might not last too long.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The disablement benefit change is not the biggest change in this case, but it is the type of change that worries me because we might end up cutting people out of the welfare system entirely. Is it correct that the effect of this is that up to now, people who lost an index finger were rated at 14% disability, so that by raising this threshold at 15%, the Minister is just excluding the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: They previously had a benefit under the system and there are other categories of disability——