David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday I spoke in the House in what I think was in a balanced and fair way. I paid tribute to the Minister for her courageous and valiant battle in reducing the scale of the cuts overall. It is important that we place these matters on the record of the House. I spoke passionately and with emotion. I placed on the record of the House the extent of the pain reflected in the very many e-mails I have received. I believe it is important that at the very least, we should act in Seanad Éireann as witnesses of an agony unparalleled in my experience of 25 years in the Seanad.

I do not propose to artificially resurrect the passion of yesterday. Now is the moment for making clear and clinical decisions. These decisions are about the welfare of the people of Ireland and they are, therefore, of extraordinary importance. Seanad Éireann stands as a last bulwark against injustice of a beleaguered people. The Minister recognised this fact because she says she does not wish to inflict this pain on the people.

I refer to her speech where she stated that she does not want to cut child benefit, respite care grant or the duration of jobseeker's allowance. I say to her then she should not do so. This House is constitutionally charged with the responsibility of not just revising legislation; we have the constitutional requirement to respectfully send back legislation for reflection by the Government for a period of 90 days maximum. It could be done in a much shorter period of time so the expense need not be the full 90 days.

The money can be found elsewhere quite easily from the people who are advantaged, as opposed to the disadvantaged. One very obvious and simple measure that has been remarked on - I am not claiming any originality - is the fact that people in the public service are still in receipt of increments. There is something obscene about paring away a minimal benefit from the disadvantaged while simultaneously there is the spectacle of the advantaged increasing their advantage. I cannot find any justification for people receiving wage increases. I can see some reason for saying that people have an argument to be allowed to retain in so far as possible the income they have because they have made commitments and so on. However, only a foolish person or a foolish Government makes provision in advance of receipt of the moneys.

The Minister has stated that the social welfare system has proven highly effective at preserving a threshold of decency for those most in need of support. Where now is that threshold of decency? It is just words, inert, on a page. We need to give them action. I sympathise with the Minister and I think she is a brave, courageous Minister. However, where is the social protection? Are people being protected? It reminds me of that awful period when the United Nations declared safe havens in Bosnia and people were massacred within them. Still they were safe havens and everyone could feel comfortable.

There is a political point here. I have been very proud to have been a Member of this House for 25 years. I would be ashamed if we do not send this Bill back to the Government. I believe we would be acting in defiance of the responsibility with which the House is charged. This would add, paradoxically, an argument to the Taoiseach's desire to abolish this House. If we fail to register our disapproval of this cut, then there is no reason for us to be here; we would become just a rubber stamp. We have the opportunity now, uniquely, to demonstrate that we have relevance to the people and that there are people of conscience in the political party system. I am privileged to stand outside it. I salute my colleagues who have been nominated by the Taoiseach because that confers an obligation on them. I am sure they feel an obligation yet they have rejected that very human emotion in the interests of the people. For that reason I am very glad that they were so appointed.

This Seanad may well be at the end of its life; I do not know. Nor do I know what the people's view is. The people would like to see politicians humiliated, got rid of. They would like to see the Seanad closed because they would like to see 60 politicians lose their jobs. I am sure they feel the same way about the other House. I have no doubt it is quite a possibility that the people would decide: "Yes, they are just politicians, get rid of them. They haven't earned our respect, our trust. They haven't earned the right to continue in operation." If we push this issue and if we reject this section of the Bill and require the Government to reconsider it over a period of up to 90 days, then it may well be that if the Taoiseach seeks to punish Seanad Éireann for its temerity-----