Results 7,541-7,560 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: Typical.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: That has been introduced. I have included gas in bottled form in the fuel allowance payment.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: The reception and integration agency of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is responsible for direct provision. The payment rate of €19.10 for an adult and €9.60 for a child, coupled with direct provision, is acceptable under all the conventions, particularly the UN convention. Asylum seekers and their families are not considered to be at a higher risk of poverty than...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I would agree with the Deputy if people were being asked to live on €19.10 per week but that is not the case.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I will respond to the Deputy's point if she allows me. People are not being asked to live on €19.10 and €9.60 for every child. They receive accommodation and food. I would not suggest we are an ungenerous people and the asylum system has improved with applications being processed faster. I do not have direct responsibility for this area and I am not responsible for the payment, though...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: We are dealing with the issue of habitual residence in a very narrow context but other schemes affected by habitual residence include the jobseeker's allowance, the non-contributory State pension, the blind person's pension, widow's and widower's pensions, guardian's payment, one-parent family allowance, carer's allowance and supplementary welfare allowance. There is an issue at the root of...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: There must be basic rules and without them we know what the consequences could be. The habitual residence clause is one of the issues that affects a range of areas. When I gave the figures in a Dáil parliamentary question recently they were insignificant in terms of people caught in this position. People are moving through the system more quickly.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I have been generous in trying to deal with the question as direct provision has nothing to do with my Department. If Deputies do not want to listen to me there is nothing I can do about it and, therefore, I cannot accept the amendment. I do not provide direct provision.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: Direct provision is made through community welfare officers in the Department of Health and Children.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I have spent the past 15 minutes trying to deal with the issue.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: As a parent I reject the suggestion that I do not care about children and do not understand their needs. I do not disagree with the sentiments of the Deputies in that we all want to see people move through the system as quickly as possible. Huge resources and great effort went into transforming this area some years ago, led by the current Ceann Comhairle. These changes were needed and were...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: There seems to be little difference between us on this issue. We are ad idem in our desire to have the carers strategy in place. The relevant groups are interested in participating but it has taken more time than we wished to get the process going. Some of the reasons are outside our control. There are differing views and the emphasis placed by various groups is somewhat different....

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: Several matters of equal importance to this were being dealt with at the time I took up my Ministry. The timeframe I am working towards is to have this completed by next summer. I hope the various groups will adhere to that timetable.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: As I have often said, deadlines sometimes create a false sense of focus that is not always helpful. The focus should be to achieve a good outcome. So be it if that takes some additional months to achieve, as in this case. I am open to having discussions with the spokespersons directly. If they prefer to feed into the process in some other way, I will structure it such that anybody who...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: That will wash out of the system quickly. It is a new programme with new processes in place and there have been delays because of the sheer volume of applications. It is unfortunate but the officials in the Department are dealing with the matter as quickly as possible. The Deputy correctly indicated the allowance is backdated. We need a focus but the timeframe is not the be all and end all...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I do.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: Of course, I accept the principle and it would be a fool who would not. Clearly, it is more expensive for one person to live on his or her own as many of the overheads undoubtedly remain the same. My essential point on this matter is that it was in recognition of this fact that so much emphasis was put on increasing the rates of different pensions in recent years. The rates have been...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: The way we are going, the female side of the partnership is living longer; therefore, women will last longer than their male counterparts. The bad news for males in the House is that it will continue this way, according to all projections. The bottom line is that I do not deny it is an issue which can be very difficult to deal with. I am not dismissive but the Government has tried to lift...

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: No, that is not true.

Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: Of course people will be worse off living alone than living with others. There is no disputing that — why would I say something different?