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"Scrooge" move will steal
Christmas
27.11.09
A DONEGAL senator has
urged the welfare minister to play Santa, not
Scrooge by reinstating the Christmas bonus to
struggling families.
Some of the 54,000 Donegal families in receipt of
welfare payments will be driven into the hands of
money lenders because of the abolition of the bonus,
claimed Senator Pearse Doherty who has secured a
Seanad debate with Social and Family Affairs
Minister, Mary Hanafin, in a bid to have the
decision reversed. Senator Doherty described the
bonus cut as "cruel and Scrooge-like" and said it
would have a massive effect in Donegal where more
than 54,000 people receive some sort of social
welfare payment.
“In Donegal more than one out of every three people
were entitled to and relied on this much-needed
bonus to cover extra expenses which occur at this
costly time of year. It will result in parents
turning to money lenders, inevitably compounding
existing family money problems and forcing them into
further catastrophic debt in the New Year," said
Senator Doherty. |
“This Scrooge-like move
will deny a lot of children at Christmas. The fact
that the Government can seek to cut money from those
on just €204 a week while seeking to protect those
on over €200,000 a year is reprehensible.
“This cut will also see huge pressure being put on
parents who have lost their jobs and are living from
hand-to-mouth. This will drive many into the hands
of money lenders – both legal and illegal and will
have serious repercussions and will send families
spiralling into whirlwinds of debt."
Senator Doherty said many of the people who will be
affected by |
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the removal of the
Christmas bonus were, as yet, not aware of the fact.
"The people affected don’t have savings to cope with
this unexpected reduction in their income – unlike
the golden circle that this government panders to;
the people affected by this cut don’t have nest eggs
tucked away or overseas bank accounts that they can
turn to.
“We in Sinn Féin have been running a campaign
against the withdrawal of the Christmas bonus over
the past number of weeks and have highlighted inside
and outside the Dáil how this callous move will
affect the most vulnerable.
“Mary Hanafin on one hand blames striking public
sector workers for delays in making payments while
on the other hand it is her very own colleagues in
Government axing completely the Christmas bonus.
“This is a cruel cut which will deny children a
Christmas and will mean extra hardship for
struggling families. It must be reversed," he added. |
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