Results 15,181-15,200 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: No.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputies for their extremely interesting contributions. Deputies Joan Collins and Boyd Barrett correctly praised the Scandinavian model. Deputy Joan Collins referred to municipal government. To remind Deputy Boyd Barrett and others, municipal government in Scandinavia is based on a certain provision of municipal taxation. For the last year Deputies Boyd Barrett and Joan Collins,...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I have seen Deputy Boyd Barrett on the plinth and in demonstrations. He is basically opposed to any kind of taxation. His colleague in my constituency of Dublin West has spent the past 20 years opposing every form of municipal taxation, even in respect of people who have large houses and several vehicles in the driveway. I am glad to hear that certain countries provide social...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: In Germany, Italy, Sweden and Norway there is a work obligation when the youngest child reaches the age of three. In Finland the work obligation starts when the youngest child reaches the age of four. In the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand the age is five, in Canada it is six and in Northern Ireland, just across the Border, it is seven. Many of us in this House would admire elements...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I am trying to respond seriously to the Deputies' praise for Scandinavia. We are spending a huge amount of money on social protection. I have defended that expenditure because in a time of recession it is an important stimulus along the lines of Keynesian economics. I realise that Deputy Boyd Barrett is not a follower of Keynesian economics. He probably rejects it out of hand because he...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I am not repeating it because I do not believe it should be repeated. He can read the Official Report to see what I mean. I have never heard it before. It may be a south Dublin DART expression but it is not an expression I have heard used on the north side. In 2011, people with children under the age of 18 were eligible for lone parent payments. This will continue to apply in 2012 and...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I ask the Deputy to let me finish. He may or may not know that there are 92,000 recipients of one-parent family payment. Over a long period of time this will affect a small number of people in order to improve the outcomes. I do not doubt his good wishes for lone parents, but if we are to have an honest discussion we need to recognise that all the research has shown that the outcomes in...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I never heard the term before. It may be used in Killiney but I have never heard it on the north side of Dublin and I object to it. I think the Deputy should withdraw it and apologise to the lone parents. He should not bring it in here as a reference.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: You brought this in here.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: And not in Killiney?

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: No, I have never heard it before and I object to it.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: On a point of information, I object to that term and I strongly recommend to the Deputy that he withdraw a term which is derogatory of lone parents and not introduce it into the language in this country. If he has learned it in America that is fine but in my view, he should not introduce it into the language. It is derogatory of lone parents.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputies for their wide ranging and thoughtful contributions. I appreciate Deputy Boyd Barrett was just using language and I accept he did not mean to cast any aspiration on lone parents. All of us share a huge admiration for the achievements of parents including those parenting on their own. Those of us who are parents know just how tough, messy and difficult it is whether one...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: It is derogatory. I suggest the Deputy should-----

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I understand his concern for lone parents is very strong and is a personal commitment. I am just saying not to use language like this. This is my suggestion. It sounds more like the Tea Party in the United States.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I had never heard it. I will repeat the schedule. For those in the system prior to April 2011 the relevant age for 2011 and 2012 is under 18; for 2013 it is under 17; for 2014 it is under 16; and for 2015 and 2016 it is under seven. For lone parents who entered the system between April 2011 and May 2012 the relevant age for 2011 and 2012 is under 14; for 2013 it is under 12; for 2014 it is...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: -----the relevant age for 2012 is under 12; for 2013 it is under 10; and for 2014 it is under seven. The calculations for 2012 are that out of 92,000 lone parents the new system will affect 170 people. I want to be very clear to people who are in the lone parents system that this will take several years to apply. By rather careless references one might imply that everybody is affected by...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The school I went to did not traditionally even provide leaving certificate education; I was one of the first people there to do the leaving certificate. If one does not have a political philosophy of developing towards the next step and the next stage one will always stay where one is. We may find this difficult to do and we may falter on the way and not do all that the Deputies reference....

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Contrary to Deputy Ó Snodaigh's impression, Sinn Féin members are not the only people who travel up to the North. Deputies on all sides of the House would have relations, friends, family and so on there.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Sinn Féin does not have a monopoly on the North.