Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my late attendance and thank the delegates for their submissions. I would welcome their views on the current system in respect of previously self-employed now jobless people and whether they would welcome a new system.

Many people who were self-employed are now jobless and nearly had beg to get their payment. Thankfully, the Minister and this Government reduced the threshold levels, so that self-employed people could get a payment, but we need a new system for self-employed people. I meet many jobless people who were self-employed and who have great ideas but are frightened of becoming self-employed again. It is sad that we have people who became jobless through no fault of their own and will never be self-employed again. We need a new system for self-employed people.

Many men or women who have stayed at home to mind their children for many years come to my constituency office. The children grow up and go their way, get married or go away. These people want to re-educate or re-skill themselves and they cannot because they cannot get onto social welfare. They cannot sign on because perhaps their partner is working and they cannot register to be on SOLAS or to participate in back-to-work or education schemes. It is very sad to tell these people that. They are very disheartened because they have given a great service to the country by raising their children and have made sacrifices. We are saying that there is nothing there for them and there is nothing we can do. That must be looked at. Perhaps it is due to Governments diddling the books because they are afraid to put these people onto social welfare even though they will be entitled to nothing, for fear that it might put the figures up and show that there are more people unemployed. I cannot get my head around that. We must look at a new system for women or men who raised their families and want to go back into the workforce to re-educate or re-skill themselves. Something must be put in place.

Perhaps I was an 1980s, 1990s or 1970s child, but apprenticeships were a huge thing when I was growing up and from a national point of view, the Government should be looking at a new roll-out of apprenticeships. There was a great deal of exploitation when it came down to apprenticeships and people not being paid a proper wage. Thankfully we now have the minimum wage. What are the view of the delegates on apprenticeships? It would be a way of getting jobless people back into work and learn a new trade for themselves. The JobBridge and JobsPlus schemes, etc., have been a huge success but we have Departments that are not talking to each other.

I know of one company that has employed 18 new people plastering. The company's cashflow is not great because the owner remortgaged and refinanced and the banks are not playing ball and will not give him an overdraft. He may have to wait six to eight weeks to get payment for a job he has done. He has employed 18 men and when a payment has not come in from a Department, that leaves things very tight. We must look at the banks, but that is for another day. The Departments should be talking to each other and making sure that these payments are there for these men who are employing people.