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

An issue that often raises its head in my constituency office, and, I imagine, in other constituency offices, relates to a scenario when a husband or wife wants to go back into the workforce. One of them may be working and, basically, the other parent cannot sign on the live register. Previous Governments had certain schemes but those schemes were got rid of. If a person cannot sign on, either for credits or payment, there is no scheme he can get on to improve his skills or re-educate himself. This is a major issue. Almost twice a week in our constituency offices we are reminded that there are no such schemes.

These people have given the State a great service. They have raised their children and they are keen to go back into the workforce but there is nothing there for them. They cannot get on any schemes because they are not allowed to sign on or register for credits. They are in no man's land. It is a scandal. We need to look into this and see whether we can bring back the schemes that were in place previously. We need to get these people re-educated and back into the workforce. They have given the State a great service and they want to go back into the workforce.