Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

It is impossible to say all the things that one has to say at this time about the carers and people with special needs and the domiciliary care applicants. Somebody said that allowance was not interfered with. God love that person. It is nearly impossible to qualify for it as we all know from dealing with such cases. What message have we given to the young unemployed? We tell them to go out and get a job. Where? What do we have to offer them? What are we handing over to them? What are we doing about them?

The 1980s did not cause the problem. In 1977 the people were bought in a general election and the country was sold down the river. In the 1980s we had to pick it up. The only thing that stood to the country then was that the division in society to which the Acting Chairman referred did not exist. We were all poor together, we were all sucked down together and carried the burden. Nobody blamed anybody else. Now, we have that problem. That division in society is dangerous and could well explode. I hope we can contain it for the benefit of everybody because, if we cannot, society will have failed and we will have failed society. I could go on but, sadly, despite the fact we are dealing with such a crucial Bill, we get only five minutes to speak.

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