Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The Social Welfare Bill will give legislative effect to certain social welfare measures announced in the Budget Statement of 5 December 2011, which are due to come into effect from 1 January 2012.

The German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel, said recently that Europe faces its toughest hour since the Second World War. We are certainly dealing with a global financial crisis of enormous proportions. The European Union is at one of its most important junctures in its history as European leaders grapple with a banking, sovereign debt and currency crisis that has already lasted four years.

The initial crisis in Ireland was home-grown, caused in large part by a reckless Fianna Fail-led Government, with their greedy developer pals, reckless bankers and lame regulators.

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