Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank my colleague, Deputy Penrose, for putting down this motion on the minimum wage. As he stated in his well-researched contribution, the Labour Party in government will reverse section 13 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill if it is enacted. The Labour Party recognises the penal charge that this Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government has imposed on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.

It is easy to say one wants to create employment. Nobody in this House or outside it wants to do otherwise. However, in this case the Government is using the most vulnerable and least well paid in our society to counteract the number of people who are unemployed, a total of 435,000. One has to wonder how that idea came to the Government. Today, we discovered another situation where the Minister for Finance, who has praised the work he has done to the world, has allowed bonuses to be paid to staff in his Department. In the last few days, he said the bonuses for the AIB workers could not be reversed, yet that was done. I can see where savings could be made that could be put into an impetus package to create jobs, rather than hitting people on the minimum wage.

Consider what has happened in the budget and the taxes that have been put in place by the Green Party in the context of energy services, school transport, fees and so forth. Everything is on an upward spiral. People on the minimum wage must budget their money but if there is a constant strain on them one can see why the moneylenders become involved and why there are so many claims on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other such organisations who are working at the coal face. People simply do not have the money to ensure their families survive.

It is easy for Fianna Fáil and Green Party Members to claim that we are anti-employment. That is not true. We want jobs, but we also see daily in our constituencies the hard cold fact that the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. This Government is doing nothing to counteract that. The people who come to us have problems with their mortgages and all other aspects of life, yet the Government is seeking to reduce their income by another €40. That sum means nothing to a rich man; he might throw it on the table in the church on a Sunday. However, €40 means a great deal to the people who are trying to balance their budgets at the end of the week and trying to ensure they give their children the best possible education and opportunities and that they have a standard of living to which we in the Labour Party believe they should be entitled.

However, the Government decided to hit them, and did so because it believes they will not fight back. They will fight back through the Labour Party. We will reverse that decision and ensure these people are given an equal opportunity to educate their children and ensure their families and communities survive. Together we can move forward in a positive manner rather than with the negative attitude displayed by the Government and some of its speakers this evening.

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