Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

It is punitive to force people to attend by giving them the option of being there or losing half their welfare. It might not be prison but it is punitive in the extreme.

I refer briefly to the C2 victims as we term them in the constituency office where we have quite a few such people coming through. I do not believe the people who now find themselves in that category were obliged by their former employers to become self-employed and C2 operatives. In the majority of cases I come across those people did not understand the PRSI element of their new position as C2 holders. It was not by default that they did not pay but through ignorance. I agree with previous speakers that something must be done to try to deal with that category of people because they are present in great numbers. Perhaps I have an inordinate number of them in my constituency. I certainly have an extremely high level of representations. I agree with previous speakers in this regard. These people are heading towards destitution and it is very difficult for them.

I agree with Deputy Connaughton concerning community employment schemes. We all know that excellent work has been done in communities through CE schemes. They are not my preference because I want to see people working in real jobs rather than on these schemes. However, in the absence of real jobs, CE schemes offer a beneficial contribution to communities. Some 200 additional places were announced in the budget but these could be used up readily in either Drogheda or Dundalk without going outside the county. That is an inadequate response and I hope that numbers can be increased significantly.

See this speech in context