Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I thank all the Deputies who have made significant contributions and in the main have been very constructive in their contributions. Since Deputy Ring is here and he could be in other places, I would like to address some of the very valid issues he has raised. I have spent a lifetime trying to create employment and a better life for ordinary people in an area the Deputy knows very well because it borders his constituency. I have become convinced that people have a need to work. Work is not just about earning money, but is something to which people aspire. The need to work seems to be inbuilt in us. The greatest challenge we face is the creation of job opportunities for our people.

In my experience the majority of people who are unemployed at present are more than willing and able to go to work and they want to work. If it is offered they will take it. As the Deputy mentioned, I was involved in the rural social scheme. Responsibility for the rural social scheme with 2,600 people, the community services scheme with 2,700 people, the community employment scheme with 25,000 people and the jobs initiative with something less than 2,000 on it is transferring into the Department of Social Protection. We are basically counterpointing the €4.2 billion, which we pay to people on condition that they are available for work but are not working, against the money we spend on activation. There is no point in talking about doing that if we do not consider the third issue we need to address, an issue the Deputy touched upon, which is the small number of people - all Deputies complain about this - who are working and drawing social welfare at the same time. They are in unfair competition with people who are working legitimately and paying their taxes. The State must have the ability to question and disqualify people who are not available for work if that is not genuinely the case.

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