Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

What worries me is that by individualising our tax system without individualising our social welfare system, we have made things increasingly difficult. There are various reasons behind every choice. Every family is best placed to make its own choice. We should not be interfering. Everything the Commission does comes from a philosophy that originated in countries with declining populations. Ireland has a very young population. Perhaps that is one of the reasons for certain differences. We have a dramatically younger population than any other European country. There are all sorts of different circumstances here. Everything I read from the Commission and the OECD involves promoting labour market activation at all costs as a big priority. They do not value non-market labour work. They never mention it; they never support it. They never suggest we should set up an economic model that protects such work, which I consider to be most valuable. It is clear that this is the Commission's orientation. I disagree with it as a recommendation.