Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Many poverty groups state that the current rates are insufficient to meet living needs. I referred to this matter when I stated that the people affected should not ask, cap in hand, for what is a basic threshold to meet living needs. I do not doubt that the Minister knows this through his constituency office. Many of my colleagues on this side of the House and I know it because these are the representations we are regularly receiving at our doors. People are unable to meet their living needs on these rates.

The poverty groups state that there must be benchmarking. The Department's current activity is not sufficiently focused or timeframed to get us to the point of putting a new benchmarking process in place. This is the essence of my amendment. As other Deputies want to introduce further amendments, I will rest.

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