Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is a great deal that this country needs to do in order to get people out of poverty. It is not enough simply to get jobs. We need to get well-paying jobs. That discussion has to happen in this House and in the country. If we only get people into low-paid jobs and they are finding it difficult, then poverty will continue. We need well-paid jobs. This is why we are giving workers the ability to protect themselves and bargain for their rights. Collective bargaining agreements will help improve working conditions for those who have jobs. Protecting employment registration agreements and the Labour Court agreements that have been struck down will help also. Legislating for these again, as well as the introduction of a low pay commission to consult and make recommendations to improve people's living standards, will help.

The idea is that a person will get a dividend every morning for surrendering the only thing he really has and which is individual to him, that is, his individual labour and contribution. That should be rewarded fairly. It should be acknowledged and it should be something that he can live on when he goes out to make a contribution to society. Work should pay.

On top of that, there will always be a need to examine the market and assess whether the housing model works. Prices are going through the roof. People are priced out of it and the rental market is not working properly. The answer is State intervention and that is exactly what we have announced. A total of €3.7 billion has been announced in public and private funding to provide 35,000 social houses in the coming five or six years. What will that do? It will provide quality homes for people who will never be able to afford their own homes. It will take the pressure off the private rental market and the building market. It will create the space to allow those who can earn income and provide for themselves to do so. Then, when we have managed to do that, we can focus on things like child care, to ensure people can always afford to go to work. We can focus on the ability to increase wages.

It is time for a practical conversation. It is time to be straight with people. It is true that things are difficult and it is extremely difficult for people in poverty. We need to do everything we can to get them out of it, but the way out is not by telling them that it is terrible for them. It is to go out to work every day, as this Government does, to create jobs and prosperity, get people back to work and get people back on their own feet.

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