Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion which I support. It is ironic that the party putting it forward is the very one that raided the social insurance fund during the years when it was in government. The fund is now in deficit and the only way to ensure it is brought back into surplus is by creating employment which will mean more payments going into the fund with less coming out because of fewer people on the dole queues. Unfortunately, the Government has a bad record in employment creation. In the past 12 months there has been a net loss of 33,400 jobs, despite jobs budgets, jobs initiatives and all the talk about job creation before and after the general election. The Government’s position is more job destruction than creation.

As other Members have stated, the moneys, approximately €25 billion, taken out of the economy in the past few years have decimated the domestic economy in particular. Smaller employers in this sector would be hit hard if the Government’s proposal on sick pay were to be implemented. Walking the main streets of our towns and cities, one will be more than aware of the number of small businesses and shops that have closed in recent years, with many thrown on the dole queues. The Government’s proposal on sick pay would be counterproductive and add to the high numbers already on the dole queues. It would also be a further cut to public services. Front-line services in health, education, the Garda and defence have already been decimated. The imposition of the Government’s proposed sick pay scheme would mean further cutbacks to public services. For instance, today in South Tipperary General Hospital 24 patients were on trolleys waiting to be seen to. If the Government proposal goes ahead, it will make these waiting times and conditions worse because there will be fewer funds available for front-line services. The same applies to community policing. The Minister’s proposal is wrong as well as unacceptable and will only make matters significantly worse.

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