Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The retention of existing employment and the creation of new jobs for the 400,000 people on the live register is the single greatest challenge facing the country. Members all know how devastating the loss of a job can be for any family. Many thousands have been affected in the past several months. It is proper and fitting this debate should take priority and that we give it the attention it deserves.

More than 400,000 people are on the live register. They come from all walks of life, some from professional backgrounds, the self-employed, low-skilled workers and every other sector. There is an enormous pool of talent and experience which must be tapped into because many of these people want to make a contribution to society without seeking extra payments. A contact point should be established where welfare recipients can submit details about their skill sets and the services they can provide to their communities. Groups, clubs and community organisations could submit their requirements to the contact point to match them with such information. Such a scheme would not be in competition with the community employment scheme but could be extended into a return to employment scheme whereby employers could be matched with potential employees.

In a bid to incentivise people to return to work and employers to take people on, April's supplementary budget changed the focus of the back-to-work scheme. The scheme now supports people returning to self-employment which has had an impact on the employers' PRSI exemption scheme. We must ensure employers who take on workers from the live register are given every possible incentive. When a person on jobskeeker's allowance comes off the live register, the Exchequer makes a direct saving of €10,000.

The welfare system's inflexibility must also be addressed. Some on welfare, particularly those who were self-employed, are concerned about going back to work for a short period as it may take several weeks to reactivate their benefits if they lose their job again. It is acting as a barrier and disincentive to people to getting back into employment.

Given the collapse of the property bubble, thousands of self-employed are now unemployed. They have found that because of the PRSI system their contributions do not entitle to them to any welfare benefits. This is creating a concern among people who would like to become self-employed that if work dries up or they get ill that they will not be entitled to social welfare benefits. We must do better in creating an enterprise culture that will incentivise people to set up their own businesses.

It must be made easier for businesses to create employment and take people off the live register. A balance must be struck between employment rights and over-regulation of the employment sector. The public finances need to be put in order, the banking system needs to be restored and we must ensure we are a more competitive economy coming out of this recession.

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