Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

There were many cruel and senseless measures announced in the December budget, almost all of which were directed at or disproportionately hit the disadvantaged. However, the threat of swingeing cuts to DEIS schemes which provide a life-line for some of our most vulnerable young people is surely one of the cruelest and most senseless measures considered by the Government.

The Minister is aware - if he is not, he should be - that most of the people in the prisons suffered disadvantage or had special needs and literacy or numeracy problems which were not identified during previous darker times in the country. They were lost to society and their futures wasted. To cut teacher numbers and support to DEIS schemes which have given a life-life and an opportunity to young vulnerable and disadvantaged people to flourish, develop and contribute to society is obscene. It is a step back into a darker age, from which most people thought we had escaped. The Government is stealing the future of a huge number of our young, most vulnerable people.

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