Estimates ‘inflicting hardship on poor’
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte claimed the move represented a major ideological shift within Fianna Fáil towards a more “petty and mean-spirited” philosophy.
Mr Rabbitte said the impact of the cuts would be “potentially devastating” on people who were dependent on social welfare payments, such as lone-parent families.
“There are now some Fianna Fáil ministers who are more conservative that the PDs,” said Mr Rabbitte. “They believe [social welfare recipients] are spongers who could find work if they only got on their bike.”
Launching a nationwide campaign to get the Government to reverse the “Savage Sixteen” cuts, Mr Rabbitte said Fianna Fáil appeared to have calculated that they no longer need the votes of such people to get re-elected.
“There is absolutely no moral or political justification for singling out the poorest sections of Irish society and asking them to carry the burden,” said Mr Rabbitte.
The Labour leader also welcomed the opposition to the social welfare cuts from a range of community and voluntary organisations, including the Society of St Vincent de Paul and Threshold. Mr Rabbitte said he believed the Government could still be embarrassed into reversing its decision before Budget day on December 3.
He claimed the Social and Family Affairs Minister, Mary Coughlan, was “well disposed” towards maintaining the existing level of allowances, but had been “mugged” by the Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy.
While he had high personal regard for Ms Coughlan, the Labour leader said she had “not been able to protect the most defenceless in society who are her responsibility”.
Mr Rabbitte also contrasted the €58m worth of cuts in social welfare allowances with the increased budget for the horse racing industry and, in particular, the €15m special funding for the Punchestown Event Centre.
The chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs, Willie Penrose, said he hoped to call a special meeting of the committee to discuss the impact of the cuts before next month’s budget. “These cuts will only drive people back into the arms of moneylenders,” remarked the Labour TD.
His party colleague, Breeda Moynihan Cronin, described the removal of a supplement, worth around €20 per week, to people who were being assisted by the Money Advice and Budgeting Services (MABS), as “one of the most appalling cuts”.
