Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Nobody ever employed anybody by offering €72 after somebody is taken on for 12 months because it is a pittance. The Minister does not understand what makes employers tick. The sooner the Minister and his team of advisers get down and dirty, and understand what makes people employ staff, the better. The Minister does not understand what makes people want to create jobs, wealth and pay their taxes. Despite the Minister's best efforts and the grandiose plans he is talking about, efforts must be mobilised around the shared objective of getting young people jobs. Those were the Taoiseach's words in Europe.

How can we take this Government seriously when it cannot even deal with relatively straightforward issues such as applications for third level education grants? The SUSI system is a shambles. Those involved are people who want to educate themselves in order to obtain work or set up a business.

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