Vol. 142 No. 13
I move:
That, pursuant to subsection 2º of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Social Welfare Bill, 1995, on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after that date on which the Bill shall have been presented to her.
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House for a second day. He has been very helpful. He knows his brief and is well informed.
He is also polite.
One can see his commitment to social benefits and his dedication. I thank him. I know we will see more of him in this House over the next few months and, for that matter, over the next few years.
About seven or eight.
I also thank everybody involved in the debate, particularly my colleagues on this side of the House who at all times were striving to be constructive. Our amendments which were ruled out of order were proposed to highlight points which we thought were important. I thank everybody involved and I also thank the Minister of State for a sometimes informative and worthwhile debate.
I express the appreciation of the Labour Party to both the Minister, Deputy De Rossa, and the Minister of State, Deputy Durkan, for the manner in which the Bill was taken through the House. I also thank my colleague Senator Wall who, throughout the day with Senators Cregan, McGennis and Kelleher, kept the ball in play until now.
We are earning our salary.
On behalf of the Progressive Democrats, I thank the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy De Rossa. I did not get an opportunity to speak when the Minister was here today.
The Senator was lucky.
I was here all the time. He seemed to think the Opposition was very critical. I was very positive with regard to the good measures in the budget. As the Minister of State knows, I look forward to having either the Minister or himself back when the report on the integration of tax and social welfare is finalised. As the Minister of State said this evening, there are many other matters which we need to consider in the area of social policy. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to do that in the near future.
I thank all the Members of the House for their valuable contributions to the Bill. When I arrived back in this part of the country earlier this evening the——
The Minister of State was well looked after in Donegal.
Indeed. The points raised were well made. I readily accept that they were made by people with a genuine knowledge of the working of the social welfare code and that they were made out of a need to improve the system on an ongoing basis. This was illustrated by the contributions of everybody in the House. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy De Rossa, and myself I thank the Members for their constructive contributions and look forward to working with them equally constructively in the future.
When is it proposed to sit again?
It is proposed to sit again tomorrow at 12 noon.
