Network calls for senators to reject Social Welfare Bill

Published: Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Irish Feminist Network, a group working toward increased gender equality in Ireland, has called upon senators to vote against the Social Welfare Bill 2011. The bill is before the Seanad this week, having been passed by Dáil Éireann last Friday.
Dr. Clara Fischer, a co-ordinator of the network, called the bill "regressive and counter-productive". "Changes to the One Parent Family Payment, to the multiple births grant, and to the Child Benefit payments of large families threaten to drive those who are already marginalised further into poverty and deprivation", says Fischer.
The network has issued a call to action, urging members of the public to petition senators to take a stand on behalf of women and children, whose well-being, they say, is severely undermined by the bill. To date, the network has received assurances from Senator Averil Power that the Fianna Fáil Senate group will be voting against the bill.