Claims have been made in the Dáil that Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton is a “tormentor” of the women and children of Ireland.
Socialist TD Joe Higgins made the claim as the Opposition demanded more time to debate the Social Welfare Bill which it was claimed would “butcher €800 million” in social welfare payments.
But Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore defended the time for the Bill and said 50 per cent more time was being spent on the Bill this year compared to last year. They were providing an extra day’s sitting to debate the legislation.
Mr Higgins, the minister’s Dublin West constituency colleague, said last year in Opposition, Ms Burton as Labour’s finance spokeswoman was “feeling the pain” of the poor, the lone parents “and especially the women of Ireland”.
He said people with children took the biggest cuts this year and last year.
He quoted Ms Burton’s remarks last year that the cuts were probably a comment on “how few women are members of this House and what little power women exercise compared to bankers”.
The Socialist TD said in an “extraordinary transformation, this same deputy Burton is now the tormenter of the women and children of Ireland”.
“Mná na hÉireann and leanaí na hÉireann are bewildered by this massive about-face” and far more time was needed for “deputy Burton, now Minister for Social Protection allegedly to come into this Dáil and explain the extraordinary transformation and do it section by section” of the Bill.
She should explain why the Labour party was now “carrying out these same savage cuts on behalf of the same bankers”.
Fianna Fáil deputy leader Eamon O Cuiv said there was increasing number of problems developing with the Social Welfare Bill. He said the disregard of home help income was to be eliminated.
“We have the problem with the family income supplement. We have huge issues in disability, huge issues in community employment schemes.”
He said there were people who were going to lose “hundreds of euro by decisions we’re going to ram through here today”.
He appealed to the Tánaiste “from the bottom of my heart to put politics aside from this” and allow the debate be continued in detail next week rather than completing debate on the Bill today.
ULA TD Richard Boyd Barrett said people were “reeling with shock, lone parents, low income families and the elderly at the attacks meted out in this Bill”.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald objected to the “indecent haste” with which the Government was prepared to “butcher €800 for the social welfare Bill”.
But Mr Gilmore rejected her claim and said it was not true that the Government was making €800 million in cuts in social welfare. “In fact it is €190 million less than was proposed by Fianna Fáil. He added that the Government was providing additional monies for “labour activation measures”, employment support measures worth €100 million more than was provided last year.
