Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

How will the Minister of State address the pockets of unemployment traps that have been mentioned? There is specific mention of medical cards and rent supplements, believe it or not. If these are traps, they should be eliminated. There can be no lifestyle that can trap people in poverty, and it is our political obligation to remove any elements of poverty.

The next issue really gets to me, so the Chairman should bear with me. Mention has been made of legal services legislation, and a Senator is seeking another Taxing Master. What sort of a legal system do we have when a former Attorney General in practice can present a bill to the State and a Taxing Master can argue it is €500,000 too much? What sort of a system have we when a so-called Taxing Master can achieve such a great reduction? Why are the legal eagles not criminalised when they try to steal taxpayers' money when they present unsustainable bills? I am not arguing that we should have more Taxing Masters but we need to examine fundamentally how legal personnel can present bills to the State which they expect to be paid-----