Results 6,221-6,240 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: She has not. I put a very specific question. Was the document provided to Cabinet? Did it have the document available when the decision was being made?

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: No she has not.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: I oppose section 4 because of the unjust cuts proposed to all social assistance payments. We are talking about a 6% cut this side of Christmas, and after Christmas, to social assistance payments to those under the age of 66 and yet Ministers are only taking an additional 5% cut in their salaries. The types of cuts proposed for the most vulnerable people in society are immoral. It is...

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: The Green Ministers also turned a blind eye to it.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: Perhaps the Minister will thank those who raised genuine issues without using foul language.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: I am happy to have been elected to the Irish Parliament.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: Only politically.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: There Minister said there are no alternatives, but there are. Fifty percent of the McCarthy recommendations were implemented in the Department of Social and Family Affairs, but only half that number were implemented in other Departments. Thus, there was ample room for savings. Only €55 million was achieved through taxes on the rich, one twelfth of what Fine Gael had proposed. In regard...

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: As a result of the changes being made, what will happen on the occasion of the 21st birthday of those people who will already have had their payments cut?

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: The payments of those under 20 will have been cut already under the April budget. These amendments extend that to their 20th birthday from their 19th. What happens when they pass 20 into the new threshold of €150?

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: Okay. What happens those people when they reach their 22nd birthday? These are people who will already have had their payment since the April budget and it applied up to their 19th birthday. Will those people go onto the full rate or will they move on to the reduced lower rate? There is some confusion in that regard.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: It seems then the announcement made by the Minister for Finance on the budget was incorrect. He said the new reduced rates were for new applicants. It seems now they include people who already suffered the cut as younger groups. They are also being penalised, even though they are not new applicants.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: My point is these are existing applicants, not new applicants.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: We would all hope that. As I mentioned earlier, Fine Gael has put forward detailed proposals for getting these people back into work. However, my point is that, when the Minister for Finance addressed the House on Wednesday, he stated these reduced payments would apply to new applicants only. This Minister is now telling us that is not the case and that people who are already signing on...

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: I had hoped to speak to the section but everyone is speaking to the amendment. Young people are looking for jobs. They need the hope of a job but nothing was presented in the budget to give them that hope. One in four young people is out of work. The Minister says that the thinking behind this measure is to give people an incentive to get into a training course but the courses are not...

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: They would do a better job than FÁS.

Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (Resumed) (11 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: Why is the funding being cut?

Social Welfare Cuts: Motion (15 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: I move: That Dáil Éireann calls on the Government to reverse the unjust cuts directly affecting carers, the blind and the disabled. With the agreement of the House, I wish to share my time with Deputies Crawford, Connaughton, Joe Carey and Doyle.

Social Welfare Cuts: Motion (15 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: The motion calls on the Government to reverse the unjust cuts directly affecting carers, the blind and the persons with disabilities. The argument made here last week by Members on the Government side was that there was no alternative to the cuts to these vulnerable groups in our society. That is just not the case. For example, a constituent of mine, John, is a single parent and full-time...

Social Welfare Cuts: Motion (15 Dec 2009)

Denis Naughten: It would not do to forget.