On last night’s Tonight with Vincent Browne, Vincent was joined by Louise Bayliss of single parent action group SPARK Parents to review the papers.
A headline about the Labour leadership contest in the Irish Examiner grabbed her attention.
Vincent Browne: “Louise, what do you want to focus on?”
Louise Bayliss: “Well I’m just looking in here again. We’re having ‘Former Labour deputy backs Burton’, this is inside in the Irish Examiner, page 6 of the Irish Examiner. And you’re just looking at it and you’re saying Burton and…”
Browne: “This is [Labour stalwart and former government minister] Barry Desmond yeah.”
Louise Bayliss: “You’re looking and going [Joan]Burton and Alex White, you know what is the choice there? Like, I feel sorry, I genuinely I say this hand on heart, I feel sorry for grassroot Labour members who put their faith in Labour and are now coming up with a contest between Minister Burton and Alex White. I mean Minister Burton, I know I’m coming from a lone parent’s point of view but only two weeks ago I was at a meeting in the Department of Social Protection where they were talking about the cuts coming in place for lone parents and for some reason even though I would be very aware of what was happening, I never expected that they would make no exception for lone parents with a disabled child and they haven’t. And from next July, a lone parent with a disabled child will lose €86 a week from their weekly income when their child turns 7. For no other reason, their child turns 7, they lose €86 from their weekly income. 27% of their income, that’s a decision made specifically by Minister Burton. That’s not imposed on her by anybody, that was chosen by her and when we’ve tried to put this out she will not listen us. And then we have the other choice of..”
Browne: “Have you spoken to her about this?”
Bayliss: “We have spoken to her.”
Browne: “Person to person?”
Bayliss: “I actually have spoken to her person to person.”
Browne: “And what did she say?”
Bayliss: [Waves hand] “We’ll sort it out, we’ll sort it out. She basically would not debate with us. We’ve written to her. I spoke to her face to face and she just literally just waved me aside as if my concerns meant nothing and you know I think we’re talking about austerity and I do not know any other sector who could take a 27% cut in their income and yet a lone parent; 98% who are women, are going to lose 27% of their income because their disabled child turns 7. They are no more able to work when their child was 6. They are trapped at home and there’s nobody speaking up for them and you know when I look at this and I know that Labour grassroot members hear what I’m saying and they look and they have this choice to make between Minister White who defended medical card cuts and Minister Burton who thinks a lone parent with a disabled child can bear the most cuts, I feel saddened for the Labour party.”
Browne: “Do you think it makes any difference who’s Labour leader?”
Bayliss: “No, I don’t. At this stage, I don’t. Not from the choices that are made here.”
Watch in full here.
Previously: Joan And The Vulnerable
