Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

This is one of the more odious sections of the Bill and should not be take on its own. The effect is to substantially cut the payments of jobseekers, in particular, who are under 24 or 25. It also deals with the new rates for one-parent families, carer's allowance and the blind pension. I mentioned in contributions last night and earlier that the effect will be to drive people into poverty. There are many organisations which are set up to help people who are down on their luck or who have not had the required social investment and must avail of services of community groups or other groups set up to help them.

As news of the budget spreads, we will witness the full effects. Most journalists have not recognised the scale of the cuts. I received telephone calls, e-mails and so on all morning from project administrators in my area who have been informed by the Department of Education and Science that their funding will be cut next year. These include a family project on James's Street and Familiscope in Ballyfermot. Virtually every mainstream drugs project in receipt of funding from that Department has been informed it will suffer a 28% cut next year.

These groups have helped those who depend on social welfare to bridge the gap for many years. The poorest of the poor and the most disadvantaged are not only being kicked around by the Government through social welfare cuts but the projects on which they have depended to help them overcome years of non-investment are also being tackled. Great work has been done, and is planned, under the RAPID programme but its budget has been cut by 25% for 2010.

The new rates for social welfare recipients are outlined in section 4 and the Schedule. In some cases, those who become redundant or who cannot source employment are being asked to survive on €100 a week. By contrast, the remuneration of the chief executive officers of semi-State companies in 2007 was as follows: Bord na Móna, more than €300,000; An Bord Pleanála, more than €220,000; CIE, €270,000; ESB, more than €500,000; Enterprise Ireland, more than €200,000; Coillte - the planting of trees justifies a salary of €400,000, which is absolute madness-----

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