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

It is very strange that the Government would award this to companies that were under investigation in the United Kingdom. There was no investigation until whistleblowers came forward from within those companies to back up the stories of disabled and unemployed people who were knocked off the dole and forced into jobs that they could not do. There have been countless cases in Britain of disabled people who were assessed by similar companies. They were considered to be not trying or not looking hard enough and had penalties applied to their dole. Basically, the scheme is compulsory.

These companies get paid a referral fee for each person they get taken on. However, there is no quality control in terms of the type of work that people are being allocated or the amount of travel involved for the person in taking that job. There is no minimum age mechanism and such like.

The mantra of this Government is that the best way out of poverty is a job but the best way out of poverty is no longer a job, not with the type of jobs the Government is creating. We have now become the second highest ranking country for low pay. Many of the jobs are impossible for people to survive on. The Government has demeaned and made more undignified the whole concept of work with these schemes by forcing people, young people in particular, to take up work for free or for €50 per month. That is the mantra and the lesson of this Government.

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