Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will take the liberty of reading a letter from The Irish Times of 26 June from Fr. Peter McVerry. I am appalled. My siblings and I were reared in a Labour Party family but my father and mother, if alive today, could not identify with what is going on in the Labour Party. The trappings of power has gone to the head of all the elected Members here. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is a lack of compassion because the trappings of power are so pleasurable and sensuous.I read a letter from Fr. Peter McVerry:

The abolition of the one-parent family payment from 1 July for parents whose youngest child is over seven years of age in an effort by the Department of Social Protection to save money will cause unnecessary hardship for thousands of lone parents and their children and should be abandoned.

Fr. Peter McVerry knows more about poverty and inequality than anyone else in this country. He calls for this measure to be abandoned. He says that many lone parent families will face increased financial difficulties and some may be forced to give up their part-time employment and become fully dependent on social welfare. When I spoke on this before, I made the point that the women in the House are all ambitious and have pleasant lifestyles with good jobs and partners to support and help them with their children. As Senator Healy-Eames has so eloquently said, it is hard to think of anything more difficult than a single mother or lone parent who is working and who must also head home to mind the children. I do not understand how the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, is so cold. I really do not. The power has gone to her head; I am not afraid to say it.

Fr. McVerry goes on to say that this is only the latest of a number of policies from the Department of Social Protection which has caused huge hardship and he refers to another serious cut; the reduction in the jobseeker's allowance for those under €25 to €100 per week. That targeted a group of people who are not politically organised or active. The rationale for the measure was, ostensibly, to get young people off their couches, away from the television set and out to look for work. It is a mindset that reflects the policies advocated by the right wings of the conservative parties in the UK. Fr. McVerry also stated that he met a young man who had been living in a long-term homeless hostel for which he had to pay €50 per week. Unable to survive on the other €50, he fell behind with his rent, was evicted and is once more living on the streets. He says he knows many young people who are drug free but are refused social welfare payments because they have no address due to an unwillingness to stay in hostels which are full of drugs.

Having observed the Minister of State over the years, I note that he is a genuine human being. He must plead with the Tánaiste on the cruelty of it. I was just at a meeting of the Taoiseach's committee on the commemoration of 1916. We will shortly commemorate and revere the people who died for their country. They were willing to put their lives down. As such, will the Minister of State for God's sake ask that woman to reverse what she is trying to do? She is destroying the Labour Party as far as I am concerned.