Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will go back to the child issue. First, let us be honest about it; this country is incredibly short of children. We are forecasting an ageing population and wondering how are we going to sustain it. The only antidote to that particular challenge is to have a population that is sustainable in the long term. Many European countries are now facing up to this challenge. It is a personal choice whether people have children but the State can have a strong influence on that choice, for example, where housing is unaffordable for people. In my view, many people would like to have children but are putting it off because they cannot afford it. We are therefore not neutral on increasing the choice - and purely the choice - to have children. From the State's point of view, it is desirable that there are children because otherwise you eventually get what you should not get, a pyramid where there are more at the top than in the working-age group. We sit here month after month with all of these dire predictions about lack of PRSI income in the future because of demographic trends so, in my view, we should see children as a great national good. I am big into watching football and I always say that, where I live, the entertainment is mainly provided to us by the young people because we go to the under-12s, under-16s and under-18s matches. I have never bought into this idea of them being dependants or non-contributors to society.

In that context, if somebody has four children or happens to have had their children very spaced out, it is not just a conjectured scenario but a reality that arises. That is a certainty. The point I was making is that, if you are working and earning more than €38 per week, which I believe amounts to three or four hours at minimum wage, you get an A stamp. You will obviously count your pay contribution, which is always superior in value to a credited contribution, for those periods. That was the only point I was making. To me, with my limited knowledge of social welfare, that is an absolute certainty, as long as you are in an A-classified job. My view was and is that everybody should pay the A rate. I tried to move in that direction when I was Minister. I believe we should get rid of all of these A, B, C, D and E rates and that every working person, irrespective of where they work, should pay the A stamp. The idea of Deputies paying K stamps is totally unfair on young Deputies. I can say that because I have no skin in the game as I am older than 66 and it makes no difference to me.

The idea of not giving everybody an A stamp is very retrogressive and I believe that is one simple amendment to the code which we should make.