Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----Ireland now is a tale of two countries. On the one hand, there are the rich and the exempted, whose privileges are protected and preserved intact, while on the other hand, 750,000 people are living below the internationally-recognised poverty line in a population of slightly more than 4 million. In other words, 750,000 people are living below what is regarded as the international threshold of decency, of whom 250,000 are children. As Deputy Halligan who preceded me remarked, for the first time in perhaps half a century, children, the unemployed, those with special needs and, increasingly, those on the margin are going without. Members will deal with the issue of social welfare next week and I have recorded carefully everything all those Labour Party Members who have been wrestling with their consciences have said and I will hold them to account next week.

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