Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The Government is condemning these families and in particular the children to a limbo of lost opportunity and permanent social welfare dependency. They are our people. They are the people dropping out of school early, and lone parents with children. Most of them are desperate to get out of the poverty trap in which the Minister is leaving them. Just as the Vatican has abolished limbo, our Government is reserving it for social welfare recipients on housing benefits.

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