Results 1,241-1,260 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is one of the best jobs in government.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It might not last too long.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The disablement benefit change is not the biggest change in this case, but it is the type of change that worries me because we might end up cutting people out of the welfare system entirely. Is it correct that the effect of this is that up to now, people who lost an index finger were rated at 14% disability, so that by raising this threshold at 15%, the Minister is just excluding the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: They previously had a benefit under the system and there are other categories of disability——

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: That category of people who previously had a benefit under the system where categorised at 14%, but the Minister has now come in at 15% and the benefit is gone. It is a little worrying that the financial exigencies of the country would be used to reform the system, because the reform should have happened a long time ago and the welfare bill was too high in the boom times. There is no...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The fact is that we were steering the ship——

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ——and there was huge electoral pressure as to why we were not spending enough. It was claimed we were spending too little because we were greedy. Fr. Seán Healy criticised us even after he visited my colleagues in County Cork, claiming that we were not spending enough. However, according to our learned colleague, Senator Barrett, had we saved double what we actually saved in the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Was it an index finger?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is on the website.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Yes, it is on the Department of Social Protection website.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I got the 14% figure from the Department of Social Protection website. There was a reference to the loss of an index finger as a 14% disablement. A finger for a pianist is different to a finger for a clerk.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Is it with a view to those figures that 15% was used to exclude people who might be considered to have a minor occupational injury, although it could be devastating for certain people? These changes apply to new claimants of the benefit, which is paid for by PRSI. It is not a change to new entrants to PRSI. If the general insurance companies which provide similar schemes to people came up...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am happy to have it clarified.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am trying to tease this out in order to fully understand the matter before we decide on it. I certainly never claimed this was the disability allowance.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am worried that such changes will be introduced to the disability allowance next year.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I know, and I am not trying to confuse the issue. I know what disablement benefit is and it is different to the disability allowance. We are clear on that but there are fears that in future the Government will try to do what I describe. There were leaks in the run-up to the budget that the criteria for schemes such as disability allowance would be changed. That was speculated upon in the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: One cannot defraud on a finger.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am happy to limit my comments and wait for the Minister's reply, at which stage I may have to come back in. This is a cut to a basic payment. When the people concerned receive their money every week, it is their basic income. The State calls it a basic payment. This is spin and propaganda to be able to say we have protected the basic rates when there is a specific cut for any new...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: They could be caring for anybody. There is no rule implying they should be caring for a child.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Government has not.