Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I, too, am delighted to be able to speak here this evening on Second Stage of the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill. Like many others, I am obviously disappointed that the Bill is being guillotined. As mentioned today, it is being rushed through under the auspices of or the time lines laid down by the EU-IMF agreement. However, that is becoming a catchphrase for many issues and I am disappointed. I realise there are strict terms to it but it is a matter of departmental officials reporting and of the Minister's accountability.

I welcome the jobs initiative. We have been a long time waiting for it and high expectations were created. I welcome it, although it is limited. I encourage everyone involved to grasp it and run with it and to try to get some stimulus into our economy because the economic situation is so bad. It is limited to the tourism area but given the two recent visits and the publicity obtained therein, it is a good time for those in the tourist industry to play their part. I believe this is happening.

I welcome the restoration of the minimum wage. I voted against the cut in the minimum wage. At the time I was a supporting member of Government but I voted against the Government. It was a retrograde and foolish step. Any employer - I am one myself - is aware that the minimum wage is there for good reason. The majority of employers pay their employees well in excess of the minimum wage and rightly so. This is proven in the figures. Employers will pay for people. A relationship is built up between an employer and employee and employers are content to pay a reasonable reward for good employees who carry out their work diligently and who are interested in their work. This covers the vast majority of employees.

The reduction in PRSI for the employer is a welcome initiative because employees do not benefit much from the PRSI. They cannot see or do not understand the costs associated with employment which employers must pay. From the point of view of taxation, it is a relief for employers. Often, this is not accepted or understood by the employees.

It is a pity the minimum wage is included in the legislation and the matter was discussed today on the Order of Business and during Questions to the Taoiseach. Previously, this came under the Finance Act. Some clever semantics are being used to get this Bill through and guillotined, including something few Members would wish to vote against, that is, the restoration of the minimum wage. It is being clever politically to have the two tied in together. While there are some good points in this, there are also some bad points.

The national intern scheme is good and could benefit many graduates and people qualified in a broad range of areas or with diverse qualifications. It could also benefit community groups and employers. People have been critical of employers and rightly so. Some employers might try to use this as cheap labour but it has been monitored carefully and this cannot happen. I believe this scheme has the potential to be of great assistance to many organisations including State bodies and, more importantly, voluntary organisations. Local and national voluntary bodies could benefit immensely. Volunteers are busy as well and may not have the required professional qualifications much of the time. The intern scheme could be of great assistance in such cases. I welcome the scheme but I call for it to be closely monitored and I believe it will be. There is scope for straying and for the scheme to be used as a cheap labour support scheme which should not be allowed. I realise this was not the intention and I hope it does not happen.

I am altogether opposed to the pension age increase. I sat on the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs in the last Dáil. The Minister, Deputy Burton, is well aware of how vocal she was as a Deputy and a spokesperson in this area and she is aware of the number of times she took to task the two previous Ministers with responsibility for social welfare. She was strongly opposed to this measure.

I voted for the Minister, Deputy Burton, the Taoiseach and the Government and I wished them well. However, the public is bewildered by the fact that there has been a change of seating arrangements here but the same policies have been adopted with even more zeal and vigour than the last Government. That is a disappointing fact of life. I attended meetings of the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs, engaged with the Minister and agreed with several points.

The use of the IMF-EU agreement as a big stick is being overplayed. We are aware of how serious the situation is and we cannot blame everything on that.

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