Results 521-540 of 1,094,021 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Neasa Hourigan OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Pearse Doherty OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Joe McHugh) in 'Committee meetings'

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Pringle: One-off payments will not do anything to benefit people in the long run. That is the reality of the situation.

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Violet-Anne Wynne: As I do frequently in the House I want to use this opportunity to raise the need to abolish the means test for carers. I also acknowledge frequently that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is the first Minister in so many years to make progressive changes to the means test for carers. On the most recent occasion I raised this with the Minister there was a discussion around the massive...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Richard O'Donoghue: It is ironic that we are talking about the Social Welfare Bill on a day when the hospitality sector, as well as hairdressers, shopkeepers and childcare workers, all marched across Dublin and arrived at Leinster House today. Many speakers raised the issues with the VAT rate and spoke about how many closures we will have in the hospitality sector. Many people who spoke about it showed how...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: On carers, and it already has been mentioned to the Minister numerous times, there is no point in getting up to say the budget was all bad. That is wrong. The problem is that while there is a lot of money out there, it is pegged everywhere and there is no accountability as to where it ends up. The real bonanza is in the Minister's Department with all of the social welfare payments out...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: I am glad to see the Minister is present because as she knows, she is one of the few people in government in whom I have faith in. I am disappointed with the issue concerning carers and the continuation of the means testing. I am upset on behalf of the people who give such great service to this country because they deserve better. Also, today, as the Minister may be aware, thousands of...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Mattie McGrath: Bhí mé anseo nuair a bhí an tAire ag labhairt and she said - with a pinch of salt - that she wanted to have the Bill passed for Hallowe'en. I asked was she going trick-or-treating and she said she was getting too old for it but she is going off like the tooth fairy with all of her grants. I know she is giving many of them to Monaghan and they will appreciate them but there...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: I call Deputy Joan Collins, who is sharing time with Deputy Pringle.

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Joan Collins: I have tabled two amendments to this Bill. I have been working on one for a while and the other, from a constituent, was raised with me recently. The first amendment is to review extending the fuel allowance to those in receipt of working family payments. This is a demand I have been making at successive budgets. It has been called for for years by numerous groups working with people...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Martin Kenny: I will raise a few issues. The first relates to carers. I have been contacted by several people who applied for the carer's allowance over the past year or 18 months. They found it difficult because their lives have been dominated by a person in their home to whom they need to give almost 24-hour care, yet they get nothing. They have not a hope of getting anything because another person...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: We welcome social welfare increases for the people who benefited but one group for whom we are all disappointed is carers. They do such Trojan work minding an elderly or disabled parent or sibling, for example. They do great work but because their husband or wife works, they do not qualify for the carer's allowance. We are disappointed about that for so many people. We all supported the...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: The most recent budget was an opportunity to address some of the challenges faced by social protection payment recipients, especially carers and those with disabilities. It was an opportunity to address the challenges facing those who are carers, a cohort of our people who have been let down by this Government time and again. Being a carer is work, often a labour of love, but it is work...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Seán Canney: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Social Welfare Bill as it goes through the House. It is important to acknowledge that there is a lot of good in this Bill. It follows on from other improvements made over the years in relation to social welfare payments. I, too, acknowledge the work of staff in social welfare offices throughout the country who are at the beck and call of...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I start by talking about the progress of Ireland over the past 20 years. There has been a lot of discussion in the House about poverty. However, the SILC report published prior to the budget indicated that those at risk of poverty was 10.6% in 2023. That is a historic low and is down from 20% in 2005. We have halved the number of people at risk of poverty over 20 years. The number of...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: A progressive social protection system is the equaliser that attempts to level the playing field. In real terms it is the difference between a life of poverty and drudgery and a life in which potential can be reached. It is a safety net for our citizens and a net too many people are now falling through. This Government's budget is a lost opportunity to enact a progressive social protection...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: I first object to the guillotining of this Bill. It is a sign of the arrogance of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that after 100 years in power, either together or by themselves, they routinely ram important Bills through the Dáil without proper scrutiny. I suspect we will see more of it next week as well. They do it because it is politically convenient for them. I turn to the...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: Many of us have spoken about those who do a large amount of caring work in our families and communities, including for those with disabilities. It is fair to say that we have to examine the means test. This is not the first time the Minister and I have engaged on the issue. I am coming at this from the point of view of delivering something that is sustainable. We know the large amount of...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Gary Gannon: I will use the majority of my time to discuss poverty – childhood poverty and poverty of the parent or guardian – and the missed opportunity of this budget to go some way towards addressing it. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to be left out of what the Government refers to as Ireland’s economic recovery post crash, a myth told to countless struggling families...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Fergus O'Dowd: I have a short time. I welcome the budget and especially the work the Minister has done over the years. It is a fact that the Minister is hardworking, efficient and effective. I also pay tribute to her staff around the country. As a TD and public representative for 50 years, and I suppose I drive everyone mad by ringing up about clients, but I have to say on the record that the Minister's...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Mattie McGrath: On a point of clarification, is there something happening other than Hallowe'en at Hallowe'en? We want the Bill finished by Hallowe'en.

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Heather Humphreys: There will be a treat when you turn up at the door.