Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said inflation had been low in the past year or two. That is true, but there has been inflation since 2010 and basic social protection payments have been cut by 8% since then. There have also been cuts to secondary welfare supports for people of all ages and family types, along with a tightening of the conditions for accessing jobseeker's benefit. In addition, between 2008 and 2013, the proportion of citizens experiencing deprivation almost trebled to 29%, and over one third of children and one in five working people were classified as experiencing deprivation. These are stark statistics.

I reckon I knocked on 20,000 doors during the election campaign, and the level of deprivation I saw in Wexford was frightening. I was truly shocked. The Minister can tell me that things are not quite so bad-----

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