Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is a red herring which means the Taoiseach is not taking the debate seriously. The Cabinet sub-committee on social policy meets far less frequently than the Economic Management Council, which is the committee for inflicting pain and the priorities of the troika on people and the economy. Does that not reflect the bad priorities of this Government in dealing with such issues as job creation? How can the Taoiseach say that reducing the social welfare entitlement of jobseekers from €188 to €100 will help them find a job? Very evidently, it will drive them into poverty. When seeking a job one needs resources to do it, such as a computer, Internet access and bus fares. One needs to interact with other human beings who might be in a position to give one a job. That costs money. How does impoverishing jobseekers support them in seeking jobs? It self-evidently does not.

Is the sub-committee examining emigration as a social policy issue? The facts make it clear that the consequence of the Government's policies of attacking young people and its failure to provide jobs for them is creating an incentive for young people to leave. Is the real subtext of the Government's policy to create pan-European flexibility and drive young people out of the country because that is what Europe wants? They do not have enough young people in Germany, so we will drive them out of Ireland to Germany or somewhere else in Europe. Is that the real policy - to impoverish people such that they have no choice but to leave the country?

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