Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 9, to delete lines 30 to 47 and in page 10, to delete lines 1 to 13.

The second amendment we submitted addressed why I want to delete this element. I presumed the Ceann Comhairle's office would have found a mechanism to obstruct me in my attempts to ensure the particular sections would not come into effect unless key aspects were in place. My second amendment outlined what needed to be done but a letter from the Ceann Comhairle ruled it out of order because it involves a potential charge on the Exchequer.

A more careful reading shows that all that was being sought was an audit of key aspects, many of which the Minister would support. He admitted on Committee Stage that particular provisions he is introducing in this Bill will not be commenced until he is satisfied that certain key activation measures were in place. Those activation measures are not in place and some of them are included in my amendments, such as the need for additional community employment places; free ECDL Advanced places; more places on "One More Language" schemes; third level conversion courses so graduates can convert their skills to potential growth sectors; a review of the usefulness of FÁS training courses resulting in the elimination of those found to be of little value, as suggested by Forfás; and a jobs fund to create 20,000 new jobs. The amendment did not state that all of these had to be implemented but that an audit would take place and people could decide in the Dáil if that had happened or not.

The Minister's key proposals in this section relate to supplementary welfare allowance, jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit, and all of them are penal if these provisions are not in place, if the training courses are not in place, if adequate, appropriate and relevant jobs are not in place, if educational courses are not available and the space for those courses is not available.

The Minister wants us to pass legislation that will allow social welfare inspectors to reduce payments to people on the basis that they refused "appropriate" jobs. There is nothing about the nature of job offers or course offers and there is no definition in the Bill of what is "appropriate". What the Minister might deem appropriate might not be appropriate for the recipient of these payments, nor must all aspects of someone's life or qualifications must be taken into account because this is a discretionary mechanism which decides what is appropriate. That is what it means when there is no definition. That is why I am calling for all of these sections to be deleted until such time as we in this House are sure that the activation measures are in place. At that stage we can decide whether we should penalise those in receipt of these payments. As the Minister stated, some people will defraud the system while others who will never work again might need a more appropriate payment. However, there is nothing in the Bill to deal with these aspects which the Minister spoke about. Some people will never be suitable for employment or training courses. This is not addressed but the Minister makes great store of it. We must take the Minister on faith that the activation measures will come in the future. He has not shown us or proven to us where the money will come from for all of these.

I will not go on for too long because I know other Deputies want to speak on these major changes in the social welfare code. It is an absolute disgrace that 20 minutes remain for us to deal with this on Report Stage. The figures for those seeking jobseekers allowance and jobseekers benefit are worse than ever, particularly the number of young people doing so. The figures do not take into account the 60,000 people, many of them young, who have left our shores to seek opportunities abroad. What is also not taken into account is the fact that we are rushing through legislation about which the Minister stated there is no urgency because he cannot act on any of the provisions because he does not have the funding or plans in place to deal with the activation measures. He still does not know how the FÁS parts of the Bill, which he introduced on Committee Stage, will work. He introduced changes to FÁS just because of a change in the Department. I call for the deletion of all of these sections.

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