Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister is correct that certain loyalist working class communities are deprived because of a lack of leadership. While monitoring is well and good, what additional function can the Government undertake to advance equality for Irish citizens in the Six Counties and reduce the rate of unemployment in Catholic and Nationalist areas? The disparity between these and other areas appears to be increasing. If we are to believe British Government statistics, other indicators of social need, as expressed in the percentages affected in Nationalist and Unionist areas, show that Nationalists are worse off now than they were ten or 15 years ago.

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