Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I will comment on the line of argument that we are not talking about big sums of money here. I accept that for many people, €340 paid back over a period of four years is not going to break the bank. However, for a very significant number of people, €340, even if it is spread out over four years, is something they will feel and something that will hurt them. There are people on the PUP who might not have been too worried about €340 over four years last year before all this happened. Now, however, with a mountain of debt, with big rent or mortgage arrears and pressure coming on from banks and landlords, that €340 is money they could really do with, so it should not be minimised.

I want to step back from that and look not just at the individual case but what it means in society as a whole. How much is the State talking about clawing back from working people who were forced, through no fault of their own, to go on the PUP for weeks, months or for months and months?

The Minister has been asked on more than one, two or even three occasions on the floor of the Dáil for this figure. We are continually told that the Department does not have it, we should be patient and that it is on the way. We were told that it would be shared with the committee over the course of this morning if the officials have the figures. I see that notes are being passed around and I hope those notes contain the figures because we should be told. I would like to know how much is being clawed back from working people as a whole who, through no fault of their own, were forced to claim the PUP especially at a time big corporations got a lot of tax breaks in the budget. There was a lot of corporate welfare but this money is being clawed back and I would like to know how much is involved.