Results 15,381-15,400 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: We can put the Senator out of his misery.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank Senators for their contributions. When I first came to this House in my role as Minister, a number of Senators were slightly disbelieving and wary regarding the commitment to reverse the decision on the minimum wage but I reversed it in the first legislation I introduced. The important aspect of that was to help people on very low pay. We have to take account of the context of...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: For those who become lone parents for the first time next week, the vast majority of whom would for obvious reasons be having a baby, they would become lone parents or requalify by virtue of having a child-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: No, not necessarily everybody and I will come to that. The vast majority of people would come into that age group provision by virtue of having a child. It is under 12 years for 2012, under 10 years for 2013 and under seven years for 2014. I believe on the part of some of the groups, although certainly not on the part of OPEN or Barnardos, there may have been a misapprehension that all of...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Yes, but they have a series of steps and obligations which are supportive, encouraging and expecting of people, which is a good mix. I say to my colleagues in Sinn Féin that the work obligation in Northern Ireland and in the United Kingdom is seven years of age. When I was researching this issue I checked whether there was any indication in the North that Sinn Féin had expressed a problem...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Can I explain my reasoning? The other problem I have, and I have discussed it with various Members of this House at different stages, is the dreadful history here in terms of what happened to the children of women parenting on their own. The late Frank Cluskey, the former Labour Party leader and Minister, changed that forever when he brought in allowances for mothers who were unmarried,...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Not until the child is seven.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: It will take effect from two to three years hence.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: It does not apply to a seven year old child.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The Senator's Government started the change, however, in 2010.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The point is-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I was not under any pressure.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: There is a timetable.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: For some of the lone parents who might be affected in the next two years and who will be, I am sure the Senators will appreciate, small in number, because most of those who become lone parents do so by virtue of having a baby and, therefore, one would be talking about seven years, the conditions of the scheme for claiming jobseeker's payment include that a person must be available for...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: They have a point. We can learn from what has gone well or badly in other countries. By the way, I have been reading about Argentina. A couple of Sinn Féin Members expressed admiration for the changes that had occurred there, but I am not in that camp.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The matters raised by Senator Cullinane are very important but as they are before the courts at present it is not appropriate for me to comment on them. With regard to the pension matters dealt with here, as I stated in my opening comments on Second Stage the previous Government suspended the funding standard in 2008. With regard to defined benefit schemes, consistent and serial expressions...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: They must have different histories.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The voluntary contribution, VC, scheme is open to people under 66 years of age who are no longer compulsorily insured, namely, they have ceased to be an employed or self employed contributor and do not have an entitlement to credited contributions. As stated by Senator Moloney, there is widespread entitlement nowadays to different types of credited contributions but people do not always...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Application to become a voluntary contributor must be made within one year of the last paid or credited contribution, which is possibly where the woman concerned had the problem. Historically, the entry requirements in terms of minimum number of paid contributions for the VC scheme has always matched the paid contributions requirement for State pension contributory. The purpose of the VC...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: No, that is a separate issue.