Ms Michelle Murphy:

That is well documented and something we brought up at the IMF meeting. The poverty rate in that age cohort has increased dramatically since the welfare cuts were brought in.

The problem now is that the cut is almost embedded in the system so it seems that under-26s will always be at a disadvantage.

In terms of the underfunding of education, institutes of technology are probably feeling the heat the most at the moment. The Cassells report made a number of specific recommendations about what route Government could take in order to fund education. It was really disappointing that the Minister announced another consultation on budget day. It will not address the issue. We will have another year of consultation. Will somebody then be willing to make a decision and say that we need more funding for higher education and then make the difficult choice about how that is done? We should have a discussion about whether we want the service and whether a student charge should be introduced. Even if that is done, the amount of State expenditure and funding will have to be increased. That is a discussion that needs to be had in the context of the question about services and taxes. We need to broaden the base. Many people do not feel low taxed, which goes back to the social wage issue I spoke about earlier because people have to buy services in the private market.