Results 2,801-2,820 of 24,326 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome the Minister. I say as an educator that she brought reforming zeal to the Department of Education and Science, some of which I agreed with. The Minister also brought great energy to that Department and like Senator Bradford, I looked forward to that when she became Minister for Social and Family Affairs. I do not say this in a patronising way but I thought she would reform social...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I understand that. That is what I am referring to in the context of absolute poverty and relative poverty. On Committee Stage in the other House and since becoming Minister for Social and Family Affairs, the Minister has made a virtue of protecting the most vulnerable. In this section, she is putting pressure on parents and children and is forcing people into making difficult choices in...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: They might lose it now.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: They have.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Well spoken.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Minister referred to the enhancement of budgets and so on. I will outline a simple scenario created by her Department and the Department of Health and Children. Public servants will have their pay cut in addition to being subject to a recruitment freeze, which will have a knock on effect on the provision of services by these Departments. A carer, a person with a disability or someone...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Minister stated the half rate allowance had not been touched.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: She cannot have it both ways.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: They are not happy with the cut in the carer's allowance.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Last week in the other House Deputy Róisín Shortall raised the matter of assessment by the social inclusion unit of the Department regarding the poverty-proofing of the budget. The Minister indicated that it would be published in a couple of days. Has this been done? If not, when will it be done and will it be made available to us during the course of this debate? These cuts will have...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: No, we did not.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Here are the Fine Gael proposals. Show it to me.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Carers, the disabled and the blind.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I will read it to the House.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Minister is spinning to deflect from herself. She is misleading the House.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: We must consider the value we place on people. This section is a full frontal assault on a wide variety of individuals. We are putting deficit reduction and balancing the books ahead of people on the front line. We are not considering people. The Minister referred to Inclusion Ireland. I want Senator Butler to listen to the following quotation. I want him to be clear on what he will be...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: As I said this morning, they are hiding from the television cameras and photographic lenses. It is not that they are embarrassed - they simply do not want to be seen. That is a fact. The process to which Bernie Madoff was subjected in the United States ended with a conviction. We have had nothing here. Members of the great old party came here during the years of growth under Deputy...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I am dealing with it.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I am looking forward to hearing your response, Senator Butler. You will have to find some justification.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: We must consider the hierarchy of needs within Irish society. A new social order is being created today. Budget 2010 has condemned carers, the blind and the disabled. That is the Government's legacy. I invite Senators to join me tomorrow when I meet people in Cork who are suffering. I ask them to look those people in the eye before they decide it is okay to take €8 from them. How can...