Results 28,061-28,080 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: It is disappointing.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: Hear it? We have lived through it.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: No.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: I propose to share time with Deputy Kieran O'Donnell.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: I know my colleague across the floor will respect every word I say and hang on to it for dear life, as would be his wont. I have listened very carefully for the past couple of days and some things have stuck in my mind. It does no harm to remember them. No one who has been elected to this House would be in any way disposed towards cutting payments to persons in receipt of disability...

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: No one in this House has a monopoly of knowledge of the hardship being suffered. I do not want to hear anyone lecture us from any side of the House about what it is like to be in that position; we have been those soldiers and done that.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: It might come as a shock to Members that some of us in this House in the early days received net pay equivalent to that of a man and a wife and four children who was on the dole. It was not nice. We had the experience of putting cardboard into the soles of shoes. No one should lecture us about bringing us back to reality; we know all about the hardship. We feel it intensely at this time....

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: We know full well about it and some of the Members sitting at the front on the Opposition benches know full well about it also because they were here.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: Some of them were not, but if fate smiles on them, I hope they will be. With the passage of time, they will learn a little more about it. What really makes me angry is that I was here during all that time; I lived through it. I saw all of this unfolding before, which is why I object to what Deputy Barry Cowen said. It is not personal, but I am telling him now that what happened in this...

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: The sad part is that the Deputy applauded it. He probably thought he was doing the right thing at the time. Those of us who had the temerity to raise questions were ridiculed; now the entire population is being ridiculed. We have been told to consider our position and asked if we understand. We have been told this is something that should not happen. Has anyone told those on the...

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: I am glad the Deputy mentioned that because I have been listening to the same auld mullarkey since I was so high. Have they all forgotten what has happened? Wealth has disappeared from the country. This was supposed to be the third or fourth richest country in the world two or three years ago.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: I was hearing it day and night; everywhere I went I was told this was the richest or second richest country in the world. Fianna Fáil used to state it was the second richest, but we used to say the third or fourth richest because we did not believe it. That is what I am sorry for-----

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: Like a number of others in the House, including the Minister and some members of the Opposition who should know better, we knew this was going to happen and suggested it would happen if we kept going the way we were - by "we" I mean society. I almost doubted my own judgment.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: I almost doubted my own judgment and thought perhaps I was wrong, but I was not. To all the soothsayers, the experts who said we did not understand what we were talking about, that we did not have proper contact with the people, I say we did and, unfortunately, we were right. Unfortunately, the corrective measures now being taken could have been minuscule had they been taken back in 2002.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: That was the golden sale, when the people were bought and paid for with no purpose other than to win the general election.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: When the election was over, health boards were abolished and free medical cards were handed out to anyone who wanted one. Having provided them, the then Government callously and cynically took them back. The same individuals are saying the people are cynical about politicians. I am not surprised that they are. We then hear that we are all the same, that we are as bad as Fianna Fáil....

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: It is disgraceful because this is the third time I have seen this happen in my political lifetime. That is the sad part. It happened in 1977, 1987 and 1997. If I was a member of a party which had contributed to it, I would come into the House with my hands up and beg for forgiveness.

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: I would throw myself at the mercy of the House and apologise to my colleagues. I would admit it should never have happened, that I was ashamed and then walk away.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: Question 27: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if and when payment will issue under the one parent family allowance scheme in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39227/11]

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Dec 2011)

Bernard Durkan: Question 36: To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to parliamentary Question No. 148 of 17 November, if she will confirm that information was submitted several months ago to the relevant section in her Department indicating that the applicant was involved in the care of the child prior to moving into rented accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39293/11]