Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

My overarching question is to do with the committee having an oversight or a watchdog role as to what kinds of jobs these are. I have just come away from a large protest of young teachers who are suffering pay inequality. Due to the pay policies introduced by this Government, in their lifetime, they will earn €250,000 less than their counterparts or the teacher behind them. That is the cost of a house. This morning, I was on the picket line at Childminding Ireland in County Wicklow. This company is backed by a local enterprise office and funded by the State through Pobal. Eight of its workers are on strike because they are being forcibly made redundant.

What oversight can this committee have because these are the sort of issues we could and should look at? As well as the numbers of jobs being created, we have to start looking at the types of jobs, their standards of work, pay and contract. The Minister of State, Deputy John Halligan, is looking at me because he knows exactly what I am talking about. The statistics might look good but some of the jobs leave much to be desired. Many abuses go on with public moneys.