Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

Nobody disagrees with the views expressed by the Minister on the matter of children raised outside the State receiving child benefit from the State. People canvassing during the general election came across the view that billions of euro are being transferred from the State to other states. These views are being encouraged by those who have ulterior motives in trying to promote dissent and racism in our communities. I experienced this in Cork, where there is a view that billions are being transferred from the State. When discussing this, we should point out that while €15 million is a sizeable sum, in the context of the overall spending on social welfare it is not the massive amount sometimes portrayed by people. When we are speaking about it, we should try to keep it in context because it creates tensions in some areas and people use it for this purpose.

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