Results 1,841-1,860 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: Why raise it then? What has this got to do with my contribution?

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: That is not what I said.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I said that the Minister believes our view is that inputs are more important.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: That is different from what I said.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: It is constructive to set out a vision for health care and it is relevant to this Bill to do so given that it deals with regulating the system and risk equalisation. The Bill reflects the Minister's plans for the future of health care but we take a fundamentally different view. Ours is not a fanciful view. We believe health care should be delivered on the basis of equity, free at the point...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 8: In page 6, lines 12 to 14, to delete paragraphs (b) and (c).The purpose of this amendment is to ensure we have adequate scrutiny of regulations and maximum oversight and transparency. I understand that section 4 as it stands will remove the requirement to lay regulations before the Oireachtas in draft form. The substantive Act of 1994 was amended in 2001. We propose...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, subsection (1), line 11, after "Welfare" to insert ", Pensions and Miscellaneous Provisions".The Title of the Bill should be changed because the legislation covers more than social welfare changes. It also makes changes to PRSI contributions. There are provisions being introduced to reduce social welfare payments which are not included in the Bill. The...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: Just as we scrutinise properly the cuts to child benefit and the respite care grant, the reduction in the duration of jobseeker's benefit, the abolition of the PRSI-free allowance of ¤127 and other measures in the Bill, we should have an opportunity to scrutinise the cutting of the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, the back-to-education allowance and the household benefits...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I will come back on the section.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: That is fair enough. I will come back to speak on the section if that is better for everybody. However, I again make the point that we contend this Bill is about more than the social welfare cuts. That is why we seek that the Bill be changed to include "Miscellaneous Provisions".

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: With respect to the Chair, I was ruled out of order for raising the amnesty and was told to speak to the section. The Minister might wait until we get to the section and I will explain why we want an amnesty.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I hope this is not how the debate will be for the rest of the day.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: On a point of order, I was ruled out of order for raising the issue of the amnesty. I did not get an opportunity to properly explain our position. Now, the Minister wants to misrepresent the position. When we get to the section, I will certainly clarify all of those issues for the Minister. To avoid a situation where she wastes all of our time attacking Sinn Féin for no reason, perhaps...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: It was ruled out of order.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: As I want to move the debate on, I will not dispute the Chair's ruling. Under this section, our amendments, in agreement with the Minister, sought to reform the social protection system to cut down on fraud and waste. The majority of cases of overpayments are not due to fraud but errors on the part of the Department or the recipient. On Second Stage, the Minister stated the current...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I want to speak to the section. Our amendments were ruled out of order but we wanted to include in this section the retention of the back to school clothing and footwear payment which has been cut. As the Minister is aware, many families are dependent on this very important allowance. It ensures that families either in poverty or barely struggling to survive have some means of support to...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: Section 4 goes right to the heart of the issue.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: I have not even spoken. This goes to the heart of the issue of forcing legislation through without proper scrutiny. We raised issues on the subject matter of section 4 last year. Section 4 deals with pension contributions. The issues I wish to discuss arise from legislation passed in 1997 which provided that the number of contributions required was to be doubled from 260 to 520. Last...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: The agreement.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

David Cullinane: Lloyd George was not around last year.