Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I will relate the tale of two families whom I have met in the course of campaigning against the water charges. The reason both families have become involved in the campaign is not only the introduction of water charges, however worrying having to pay water bills will be for many people, but also the dramatic cuts in child benefit the Government has introduced since taking power. The other night, the woman in the first family, which has seven children, told me she started her Christmas shopping last February. As we know, parents are killing each other to get their hands on dolls based on a character from the film, "Frozen". Fortunately, she snapped up one of these dolls last February and has been storing it ever since. Two of her children have serious medical conditions and, as the Minister of State will be aware, these tend to eat up family incomes. The family is not in receipt of social welfare as the father works 80 hours per week in two jobs, one during the day in a factory and the second at night. I checked the changes made to child benefit rates in recent years. In 2008, a family with seven children would have received €1,347 per month in child benefit. This figure fell to €1,155 in 2011 and in 2012, under the current Minister, it was cut again to €1,068 per month. It currently stands at €910 per month. As such, the family in question is worse off by almost €500 per month, which is a large amount of money. The Minister of State should consider how much suffering these changes have caused.

The second family I have met in my campaign is from Jobstown, an area that has recently attracted the interest of the media which have never shown any interest in west Tallaght or any other working class area. While I do not propose to provide many details as I do not wish to reveal identities, the family has a large mortgage and relies on food vouchers or food stamps, as they are known in the United States. The food voucher system here is administered by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The woman must send her children to the food bank, which, incidentally, is on the grounds of An Cosán, to get the food the family needs to survive each week.

I understand the Minister recently opened a food bank in Cork.

See this speech in context