Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2024-10-22
============================================================

Gerard P. Craughwell (IND), Labour Panel

I am disappointed we are running all Stages of the Bill through the House. I would like to see amendments. There are things in the Bill about which I would like to talk. The Minister has delivered a great deal for a lot of people not just in this budget but in the five budgets she delivered in my time here. It is not good enough to start throwing things at the Minister just for the hell of it. She has done a good job. She has been a tough Minister, clearly, to have gotten the funds she has over the years. She has delivered well in her time. I am here to say I think she will be missed. A neighbour of mine said to me on hearing of her impending retirement, "Sure why is that one going, she is still young?" It is sad to see somebody who has such energy move on. I will not hammer her Bill. I wish her well with it and I thank her for what she has done. I have nothing more to say to her but to thank her for that.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2024-10-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:23+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-10-22