Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

There is no doubt that the issue of people drifting into long-term disability or invalidity benefit is also a source of worry. There are issues such as how we manage sickness and how we can ensure people take up opportunities, even if they are receiving sick payments, rather than drifting into long-term reliance on social welfare. A consultative process is under way. The contribution that was made by Forfás signalled our concerns about employment. Job creation is extremely important and scarce at the moment, and we need to do everything we can to nurture it. I recognise also that there are issues with regard to the management of budgets, and we need to examine the actions that can be taken across the system to manage this better.

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