Results 4,061-4,080 of 24,326 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: -----is in government now when social welfare payments are being cut.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: When will the Government leave the people alone? When will it show respect for them? I hope the Leader will respond.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: Will the Government show the people respect?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: It sounds like the banks.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: They will not be going now.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. This is the biggest attack on family life and ordinary men and women.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: This is the biggest attack, and the Minister of State and his colleagues have brought it in and will vote for it tonight. Shame on them.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: Cutbacks hurt the old, the poor and the disabled. The House should remember it. This is what they are introducing here. We should be serious about jobs and honest about putting a value on work but this Bill and this budget do not do that. The Bill discriminates against people. There is a 4% reduction across the board in social welfare. We hear the mantra about the cost of living coming...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: People are afraid to turn on the heat because they do not know what to do given the money that has been cut by the Government. I have received texts and e-mails and have met people in this regard. I am not talking about a mass e-mail campaign but about genuine ordinary citizens who are struggling. The Government is putting people under pressure, causing stress and upsetting the lives of...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I am not talking to Senator Brady, but he is doing so.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: The architects of our downfall are walking around town scot free. The Minister and the banks would again have been in a cosy cartel in regard to the €40 million in bonuses only for the fact that ordinary people and the Opposition took up the issue. The Minister could not do anything last week but all of sudden yesterday he found a loophole to ignore the court order. What do the Minister,...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I will take a point of order from the Minister of State.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: Whether we like it, there is a new Ireland. The Government should talk and listen to the people. It has created a new tier of poverty in middle Ireland. I know the Minister of State and Senator Brady are embarrassed by, and ashamed of, the Government and I do not blame them.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: Let us look at the facts. Male unemployment is up 16.7%.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Second Stage (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: One in three of those under 25 is unemployed. Half the unemployed - 6.5% - are long-term unemployed. That is five times more than in 2007. Some 88% of job losses have been among those under 35. Some 55% have been among those under 25. That is the Government's record and we do have the emigration figures yet. That is the Government's legacy and yet it asks the people to take unfair cuts...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: The Minister of State, Deputy Mary White, is a member of a political party and understands the concept of being in partnership. This is the most callous section of the Bill as in it a cut is imposed on carers. A carer is someone who looks after, protects and minds people. If the Minister of State is talking about social justice, how can she justify this section which penalises carers?...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: -----or they are not down in the hair-dressing salon getting their nails varnished. These are ordinary persons who are honest-to-God citizens who are struggling. I challenge the Minister of State, Deputy White, and her colleagues in Government to come out on to the streets and to the townlands to meet those who are struggling. It is all fine and dandy to state we must do so much. There is...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: That is extraordinary.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: Let us call a spade a spade here. Let us look at what Inclusion Ireland, which is not a political body, stated. The measures in the budget means those on disability allowances are down €847.60 a year since 2008. I refer to those on disability allowance and on the carer's allowance. Whether the Minister likes it, he is attacking the living standards of the people who need the most. In...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: The Minister referred to the 40% of expenditure by his Department. I understand he has to make savings and I support him in his agenda for reform. However, what upsets me most about this budget is its failure to put social justice at its core. The Minister spoke about fraud. Last year, his predecessor as Minister, Deputy Hanafin, was going to be the white horse in her Department. She set...