Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I welcome the introduction of the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill, a crucial first step in calling a halt to the economic crisis inherited by the Government. I am confident it will mean good news for employers and workers. I would not claim to be an economist but the Government is trying to simulate the bottoming out of the crisis. The implementation of the Bill will help to achieve that aim. Given the resources available to the Minister in this regard, the Bill is a modest step but it is necessary that we start tackling long-term unemployment. We must consider the human cost of doing nothing.

Previous contributors who have since absented themselves from the debate engage in what may be described as the "Chicken Licken" politics of "the sky is falling down". For example, Deputy Martin Ferris referred to our refusal to be tough on bondholders. We have limited resources because the Deputy worked in cahoots with Fianna Fáil during the last Dáil in terms of the bank guarantee. It is also the reason our arrangement with the EU and the IMF is a stern one.

The Bill restores the cut in the national minimum wage. The cut was a cynical move by the previous Government. Without doubt, we need to try to provide as many incentives as possible for people who want to return to work. Cutting the wages of the lowest paid in society is not the way. It is certainly not the way of the Labour Party. Reforming the social welfare system is a priority for the Government, as clearly set out in the programme for Government.

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle will probably identify with my next comments. Last Saturday, I met a man in my home town of Tuam who owns a coffee and confectionery shop. His first paying customer on Saturday was at 12.30 p.m. His issue did not relate to whether he was paying premium rates on a Sunday because he has never been open on Sundays. Rather, his issue was that there was not a bob in the pockets of the people walking up and down High Street.

The restoration of the minimum rate of pay will have a significant positive outcome for the local economy. We are trying to undo the damage done by the previous Government, which took money from the pockets of the most vulnerable people in society. As Deputy Costello stated, these people are not investing in shares or repaying mortgages on second properties. They only need to survive on a minimum rate of pay. As such, the restoration of the minimum wage will boost local economies and create jobs. I am not convinced that deflating the economy and removing money from people's pockets will create jobs. Indeed, the deflationary tactics inherited from the previous Government have contributed to the significant number of unemployed people. We need to tackle this issue through a combination of education and training and by instilling confidence among the unemployed in their ability to return to work.

Young people and new entrants are also entitled to being confident about entering the labour force. The back to education programme will provide 3,000 places for adults who have not received their leaving certificates. The national internship scheme will, once fully established, offer 5,000 work places to young people in all sectors of the economy. We hope these measures will bring a halt to emigration. As a rural Deputy, the scourge of emigration is tangible and its impact is visible. This is lost on some urban Deputies, as one cannot get the same sense of the impact of emigration when walking around an urban setting. A rural Deputy can see how significant it is.

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