Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

I add my support to the amendment. It is logical, given that there are hundreds of thousands of working poor in the State. People are going without meals, medical care and heat. Others are selling their cars because they cannot put fuel in them. People arrive at petrol stations with five gallon drums in order that they can put enough kerosene in them to heat their house for one week. There is a serious level of working poverty. A total of 115,000 people are in mortgage distress. People put the payment of the mortgage above paying almost every other bill. Retired gardaí to whom I have spoken are finding it impossible to pay bills such as the household charge. People who have never broken the law in their lives are being forced to do it now because of working poverty. If we were to focus on the raison d'être of the legislation, we would focus on the impact on the working poor.

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