Search Results for 'Welfare'

If you are not reading this from A&E and have managed to survive the enduring cold snap without breaking a limb, give yourself a pat on the back. Now, as for surviving the budget - well that may prove a little more difficult. Indeed, some among us may well be wishing that we were tucked up in a hospital bed having our wounds tended to and our meals served up. That way we would not have to worry about cutting corners or going hungry for a few days at least.

The country is insolvent with a deficit of €20bn and national debt of in excess of €300bn. We must find massive savings in current spending leading to a reduction in the deficit and thus a reduction in borrowing. Increasing taxes will have some albeit a limited benefit as they generate diminishing return in line with the increases levied. So we must close the gap elsewhere.

Fianna Fail TD for Galway West and Minister for Social Protection, Eamon O Cuiv has anounced new proposals which will require 10,000 social welfare claimants to complete community work in return for their social welfare payments.

Responding to the recent revelation by the Department of Social Protection that almost 3,000 public sector workers are dependent on Family Income Supplement, Sinn Féin Cllr Thérèse Ruane, has warned that Irish society is becoming more polarised and unequal by the day. She also recommends that people check out their eligibility for family income support top-up payments as more than €100,000 remains unclaimed.

Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on social protection, Senator Nicky McFadden, says that if the Minister focussed on meeting social welfare fraud targets, pain for the most vulnerable in society could be spared.

Sinn Fein councillor Therese Ruane has condemned proposed cuts to rent supplement for those living on social welfare.

Mayo Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony has said the Government policy on adults seeking to return to education was nonsensical. Noting that adults currently seeking to return to education must be six months out of work and in receipt of social welfare, Deputy O’Mahony said the announcement of 50 extra staff by the Social and Family Affairs Minister was a waste of money while this policy persisted.

The Fine Gael spokesperson on community, rural, and Gaeltacht affairs Deputy Michael Ring has warned that newly unemployed people are being hung out to dry by the Government because social welfare offices in Mayo still do not have the staff levels to cope with the worsening unemployment crisis.

Brian Harris, Labour candidate in the Callan Electoral Area, has called on the Minister for Finance to ensure that those on social welfare incomes are spared of additional taxes or reductions in benefits in the forth-coming supplementary budget.

Fine Gael councillor Jarlath Munnelly has called on the Government to expand community employment schemes to provide employment opportunities for recently unemployed people. The Fine Gael councillor made these comments as the number of people out of work continues to grow. Cllr Munnelly said that he was disappointed to see many committed, hard working, people queue up for social welfare assistance, when they would clearly prefer to be contributing to society by working. “I was in Ballina last Wednesday morning, where I was shocked at the length of the queue outside the Social Welfare Exchange in Ballina. Many of the people there were signing on for the first time in their lives. Up until a few weeks ago, some of these people were in well paid jobs, and now, thanks to events beyond their control, they are unemployed. For many, it’s for the first time. This is a poor use of our human resources in this country.”