Results 8,561-8,580 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

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.

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

Thomas Byrne: There has been a lot of guff about equality.

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

Thomas Byrne: I am on section 4. We have heard a great deal of guff today. While it is great to hear civil partnership mentioned, it has nothing to do with the measure before us. Civil partners have been dragged into the net, as they always have been under the social welfare system. Irrespective of with whom one lived and whether one was married or single, income has always been taken into account....

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

Thomas Byrne: This is how the cut is being dressed up.

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

Thomas Byrne: The use of the term "civil partner" and the fact that a partner's income will be taken into account when the cut takes effect do not make it a major equality initiative. It is wrong to use this argument in defence of cuts for the most vulnerable. Senator David Cullinane made a highly relevant point in this regard. Job seekers were always treated differently from other social welfare...

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

Thomas Byrne: Yes.

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.