Ms Br?d O'Brien:

I thank the Deputy. We would love to see a public employment service for everybody of working age. As the world of work is changing, we feel we need a service that is there for unemployed people, regardless of whether they are on a payment; for people who are seeking to change their job; and for people who are returning to paid employment, many of whom will be women. That is really important. Yes, our social welfare system is not adequate. It is not at the level it needs to be at to lift people above the poverty line and ensure they can meet the MESL. The cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated that. It is an issue that needs to be addressed as we go forward because it can be very difficult for people to manage other aspects of their lives if every day they are trying to figure out how to pay for this and how to pay for that, and if they pay this today what they can do tomorrow. We feel it is really important that this question is addressed. It would make a huge difference to many people.