Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the main provisions in this Bill and I thank the Minister for Social Protection for standing up for the people who need the protection of this State. Ten years ago I was a Member of the Seanad and I remember coming in here to the Dáil Chamber to see the then Minister's Budget Statement. That was a giveaway, easy budget. Charlie McCreevy was almost carried shoulder high. In the smoking area in the Members' bar there was a sing-song, a piano accordion and a bit of Irish dancing by the Fianna Fáil Members who are now so upset that they went missing five years ago. Where are they now? They are not here to debate and listen to exactly what is being said about this Bill. They should come in here and listen to what we have to say. It is an insult to this House that the Fianna Fáil Members are not here to represent their party in a serious debate.

I welcome the reduction in the jobseeker's allowance to try to get people back to work. On Saturday night I was in a hotel in Northern Ireland, 15 miles from the Border. The staff in that hotel were all local, and happy to work. There is hardly one local person working in any hotel in this country. Fair play to the people coming into the country who work extremely hard and provide a very good service. There are tens of thousands of jobs in the service industry. The Minister is trying to get people off social welfare and back to work. I thank the Minister very much for taking those courageous first steps and I look forward to seeing people back at work in indigenous industries.

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