Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

If Sinn Féin's point is that we should abate the shrillness, perhaps its Deputies might listen to themselves. We are taking the time to correct some of the inaccurate points they have made.

It has been suggested the Government is attacking the poor. The Government reversed the cut in the minimum wage, despite the Opposition's assertions that we would not do so. The Government has stated it will not reduce social welfare payments during its term. It has been claimed that we are abolishing JLCs, but that is not happening. Nobody on this side is saying we will abolish them. We want to put in place a plan to reform them, with the consent of the Government as a whole. It has to be made clear that the plan does not involve abolishing them.

The Government is grappling with the reality that 446,000 people are unemployed. No amount of talk about the smart economy strategy will get many of them back into employment. The sectors of industry covered by JLCs have suffered job losses of between 20% and 40%. Employers have contacted me to say that if a way to reform this mechanism is found, they will keep the people they are currently employing under their current contracts. They have said they will continue to operate the JLC agreements which they are legally bound to uphold and additionally hire new people under the reformed JLC arrangement. That is what people are telling me.

Like other Deputies, I regularly meet unemployed people who come into my constituency office to say they are looking for work. That is a fact. I assure those who think this is a question of the abolition of the JLC programme that it is anything but. Some wish that was the course of action being taken by the Government, but it is not. We are trying to find a way to encourage employers in the industries most likely to make a dent in the unemployment rate to offer jobs to some of the 440,000 unemployed at wages they can afford and that are sufficiently attractive for the jobs to be taken up. That is what is being proposed.

I emphasise that the Duffy-Walsh report has been published. I am struck by the number of assertions made in the report on the basis of literature. What about the three to four years of data, examples or evidence of what has been happening in the State? Why was such reference material not used in the report? That anything is being abolished is patently untrue. It has been suggested the Government is trying to attack the poor, including the working poor. Our track record in the past 100 days and more shows we are doing the opposite. We are trying to find a way to re-energise the service industries which offer people the most likely way of getting off the dole queues. That is what we are seeking to do.

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