Results 16,941-16,960 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The pension fund issue was dealt with in the last budget, where the limits were set.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: All the issues that have been raised have been dealt with and are being dealt with.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I appreciate it is difficult for families but at least this way the health levy is progressive, as it goes from 2% to 5%.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: This is being included in the legislation.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The budget has been well debated. I can assure Deputy Enright that we did go through every Department's expenditure line by line, but where savings have been found the Opposition has opposed every single one without coming forward with other suggestions about where to save money within those same Departments.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: No, because people have not indicated where they would find savings within the same Department.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Deputy suggested we look through each Department; that is exactly what we did.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The income levy, the health levy and the PRSI increases were all aspects of income raising, which was important. So too were the expenditure cuts, and we tried to be as fair as we possibly could. I appreciate the difficulty for people and we know it as a Government. Unfortunately, however, there were decisions that could not be avoided.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: We were faced with choices and none of them was easy-----
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: -----so we had to make the decisions we did. The health contribution is being included in this Bill.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I welcome any suggestions for control measures but I am not sure this needs to be included in the legislation, so I do not propose to accept the amendment. I will follow up on the idea the Deputy has raised and if it helps to save money I will certainly implement it. I also suggest there might have been an onus on the daughter to indicate to the Department that money was being received in...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: All right.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: There is not.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: At the moment, the person in the nursing home continues to get his or her pension, so we do not have any way of knowing he or she is not entitled to the other benefits. I will certainly consider what the Deputy has said. There is probably no need for such a provision in the legislation so I do not propose to accept the amendment, but I will follow up on the idea.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I indicated to Deputy Shortall that I would be happy to consider her suggestion. However, the amendment does not say such a system should be set up. Rather, it seeks a report. I do not propose to accept such an amendment.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Deputy Shortall is gunning for a fight.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: When I do not agree with her she picks a fight and when I do agree with her she picks a fight. I am happy to consider her suggestion and investigate how it could be implemented, but this amendment simply asks that we lay a report before the House. I know it is a mechanism, but I do not propose to accept an amendment that looks for a report. However, I will certainly follow up on her idea....
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: This section allows for an increase in the earnings ceiling from â¬52,000 to â¬75,036 per employee. In other words, it is an income-raising measure. I accept that in opposing the budget in its entirety, Deputy Enright will also oppose this particular measure.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I do not propose to accept the amendment. As I already indicated, the PRSI ceiling for ordinary employees has been raised significantly, thus enhancing the nature of the social insurance scheme. It is important that the scheme should have this element of fairness, as the Deputy argued. An interesting recent review of the social insurance fund indicated that it is those on lower incomes who...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The increase introduced in the budget will yield â¬103.5 million in a full year. This represents a significant contribution and a significant change.