Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Catherine Byrne said she welcomes the scheme because it will give encouragement to people to go back to work. I do not know who she has been talking to but any long-term unemployed person to whom I have spoken does not need any encouragement to go back to work. People in that situation wake up every day dreading the bills the postman will drop through the door and worrying about how they will pay their rent, put food on the table and clothe their children. That is all the encouragement they need to get back into employment. In fact, they do not need encouragement; they need a damn job. This Government, however, has not been very successful in providing them with jobs.

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