John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is out of touch with reality. Over Christmas, many thousands of people throughout the country had no heating, no television service and no proper food. I ask the Minister to acknowledge that this is the case and if so, to take the opportunity to meet the people working in front line services like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Social Justice Ireland, whom he ignored in the previous budget, and to undo the mistake he made in the two most recent budgets. He should bring in the groups working with the 700,000 people who are our people and who voted for and put their trust in us in the last election so they could have a better quality of life. Instead they are condemned to poverty, despair and desolation. I will not get into an argument because I am into conciliation rather than confrontation but I appeal to the Minister to meet Social Justice Ireland and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as I and many other Deputies have done and to listen to what they have to say, which might shock him, rather than talk to them for five or six minutes. I understand the Minister did not meet the Society of St. Vincent de Paul before the last budget. I urge him to set up this task force because he would do a great service to all those who are ill on the unemployment system.

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