Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Having listened to the last few speakers, one would think that the Minister, Deputy Burton, sat up in bed at night thinking about how she could punish people. I happened to meet her a few days before the budget and she was clearly distressed by the fact that she would have to cut anything at all. Every effort of hers was aimed at minimising the budget's negative impact. That is the type of person she is and the public knows that. Nobody wants to stand over a situation where cuts have to be introduced. The thrust of the Government's work is to get the whole county back in line so that more people are employed and the country can afford to provide health, social welfare and other services.

I wish to address two main areas. The first concerns the removal of the €850 bereavement grant. Clearly this is regrettable but there is a lot of misunderstanding about the situation. It is important to draw attention to all the supports that are there for bereaved families. I will list them because listening to some speakers one would think there were no such supports. For example, various social welfare payments, including the State pension, remain for six weeks following a death. The widowed person still gets a once-off payment of €6,000 where there is a dependent child. A person who dies as a result of an accident at work gets a funeral grant of €850. For those who are unable to pay, there continues to be an exceptional needs payment which averages at €2,000. It is important for people to realise that those supports are there.

My second point concerns the under 25s. We would all prefer if nobody's money was being cut but it is worth remembering that the 22 to 24-year-olds will get at least €144 per week. That is more than double the sum of £56.80 paid in Britain and Northern Ireland. Greater job activation measures aimed at the younger cohort of the population are useful and constitute a valuable asset for our community. For example, the Department of Education and Skills is ring-fencing a minimum of 2,000 additional training spaces for the udner-25s.

Proposals under the youth guarantee scheme will incentivise employers to offer more job opportunities. In addition, the JobsPlus eligibility level will move from 12 months to six months for those under 25. There will be an additional intake of 1,500 in the JobBridge scheme and 1,000 places will be created on Tús schemes to target young people.

The Minister, Deputy Burton, is aiming at creating a situation whereby people will be ready to take up jobs as our economy lifts up. We want everybody to think in terms of having a job, thus working for themselves and for their community. In an earlier contribution, my colleague, Deputy McNamara, said that even when things were good, 15% of families had no work. We do not want to see people on the dole, however, and so we are preparing for that economic upturn.

It is important to keep checking the job activation measures to see that they are working effectively, but we must alter them where necessary. Labour means work and Labour is the party of work. We believe in work for all and we will not rest easily until we achieve this.

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