Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his response. Will he accept that many of the 20,900 activation places he mentioned were in the pipeline and had been budgeted for by the previous Government? When will the new national employment and entitlement service, which seems to be a central piece of the Government's employment policy, be available? On numerous occasions I have asked the Minister for Social Protection about this and she has been unable to give me the slightest hint of when we might hope to see it emerge. The VAT reduction is central to the Minister's employment policy. Is he aware of anecdotal evidence suggesting that the VAT reduction is not being passed on? When the Government is deciding whether to continue this relief in the next budget, what criteria will it use? How will it judge whether it is being passed on? If it decides to discontinue it, what does it propose to put in its place?

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