Mobility allowance debate
Senators call for Ministers to engage with the Seanad on issues including the abolished mobility grant; Senator Hayden praises Deputy Kathleen Lynch’s willingness to attend, while bonus restrictions are also discussed.
I agree with Senator Mooney, who referred to the business of the House today. I am sure the Leader agrees that many calls have been made by Senators on all sides of the House for very important debates on a range of issues, including the jobs crisis, youth unemployment, poverty and, in more recent days, the mobility grant that was abolished. We have called for the appropriate Minister to come here to discuss a replacement scheme. It is important that this House gets the co-operation of Ministers, who should participate in debates. I am concerned that over the past number of weeks, the agenda of the House has been quite light, despite the fact that many calls have been made by Senators on all sides for Ministers to come to the Seanad to discuss important issues.
If the Minister of State with responsibility for the mobility grant is considering a new scheme, she should come to the House to discuss the matter with Members, who have been lobbied very strongly by people directly affected by the grant's abolition or those who would have been waiting for their applications to be processed. We should have an opportunity to feed into the process and I hope the appropriate Minister will come to the House. It is an important issue and I hope that whatever scheme replaces the mobility grant will be fair, broad and equitable. It must ensure that people with disabilities and mobility problems who need support in transport should get it. If there is a cost to the State, meaning we must raise taxes on higher earners, it should be done. That is what society is about and what our Government should do. It must vindicate the rights of citizens, especially people with disabilities. There have been calls over a number of days for the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to come to the House in the next number of weeks in order to discuss the important issue of supports for people with disabilities and mobility problems.
Comment on this
Of all the Ministers and Ministers of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has been one who is willing to come here at the drop of a hat. She should be given due credit for that.
Comment on this
I have no doubt that she will be more than happy to come here to discuss the mobility allowance. The deal on banker bonuses has been mentioned by a number of Senators and I also congratulate this European Presidency on the progress made in the overall banking agenda. It is nevertheless important to remember that we are talking about limiting bank bonuses to one year of salary or, in some cases, two years of salary. It is hardly a case of bringing the rate to 10% or 15%, which many people might get as a Christmas bonus or a few bob as a means of saying "well done". We must put the issue in perspective.
It is amazing that we are discussing the bonuses of people who were incentivised to go out and destroy the banking system of the European Union, selling bogus products to people who trusted them. There are a number of issues that we, as a House, should be discussing with regard to the banking sector. I again ask the Leader to bring in the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, specifically to discuss banking. We should also discuss the mortgage arrears crisis and recent statistics from the Credit Review Office indicating that Irish people are not able to access credit and are not in a position to complain, as they are in many cases limited to two or three banks; if they live in a rural area, they may be limited to one bank. We must have a serious debate in the House about the banking sector and the only person with whom to have the debate is the Minister with responsibility, Deputy Michael Noonan.