Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and I recognise that we have many positives in the country. When I mention the crises, it is not that they are negatives. There are always challenges. I see every day the number of young people biting at the bit to get involved in or set up businesses and to create industry and employment. One of the issues with that relates to the incentives to make work pay. One of the biggest challenges small and medium-sized companies and all businesses face is trying to get people back to work. How can we make work pay? It is marginal at times between working and not working. We need to make it worthwhile for people to be working.

On social welfare, I am a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. We have gone through a huge amount of living experiences with people over the last year and a half. Some 13.5% of our population are disabled people. We need to make sure they are not below the poverty line. They have needs beyond others. They have many challenges which they have spelled out to us. There needs to be a special budget for people with disabilities to make sure they can live independently and in a way equal to everybody else, as their right. I ask that people with disabilities be taken on board in the overall formation of the budget on the basis that something special needs to be done for them.