Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her presentation. My question centres on family income supplement, too, which the Minister has addressed. Another way of looking at it is that, in effect, we have spent €250 million, which has been increased to €280 million, to support approximately 50,000 families who are in work but so poorly paid that the State must intervene to keep them out of poverty. Do we need to have another conversation about what the Minister has mentioned before, a living wage? We spend a great deal of time discussing the social protection system and words such as fraud, dependency culture and so on always come into the conversation. When I dig deep into the figures, it appears that there is an element of corporate welfare, whereby the State is spending €280 million to support those in work because employers are not giving them enough hours, as the Minister said, or not paying them enough. Where do we strike the balance? How do we ensure those who are in work are paid a dignified wage and not dependent on the State? How do we strike a balance between supporting those whom we need to support, to encourage them to stay in employment and have that routine in their lives which, as the Minister said, is crucial, and talking to employers about their responsibility to lift people out of poverty, without having to depend on the goodwill of the social protection system? There is a serious conversation to be had about culture, values and dignity in the workplace.