David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his response. Does he suffer from a sense of déjÀ vu? All that work was done in 2001 by the National Economic and Social Forum. Is the Minister taking account the findings in that report, which was very good, but which has gathered dust since?

The Minister speaks of combining the CDA and FIS. The CDA is a payment for people who are unemployed and FIS is for people who are employed, so how can he combine the two? Has he considered that?

Can he set himself an objective or deadline as to when he expects to see this new super family-friendly child benefit scheme in action which he keeps telling the press about? Does he foresee it being announced in the next budget or will it be the budget after that? It will probably take a budget to bring in measures such as this or else a Social Welfare Bill. Will the Minster say whether it is his objective to have this announced as part of the forthcoming budget at the end of the year? If that is the case, it is somewhat like the schoolboy throwing the sack over the ditch. It means the Minister will have to follow and we will try to ensure that he does. In summary, has the Minister taken into account the NESF report of 2001 which has covered this ground already, how will he amalgamate CDA and FIS and when does he expect to see this happening?

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