Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

People in such societies lived longer. This is the type of society to which we should aspire and that should be at the heart of what the social protection system aims to do. We must find ways to ensure that people can work because it matters that they work and see the benefit of same.

Yesterday saw the result of the US election. Essentially, a man was elected who had run a campaign based on hate speech and division, but the division and discontent were not created by him. Rather, there was rage about inequalities. The same could be said about Brexit. People feel that they have been left behind by others who have powered ahead. Inequality is divisive. The lesson that we must take is that our system should not widen gaps.

There have been delays in processing a number of payments, including long lead-in times for pensions. Judging from the people presenting at my constituency office, these times have increased. The same is happening in terms of respite care grants. Attention must be paid to these payments.

JobPath was mentioned by Deputy Mattie McGrath. The appropriateness of that scheme crops up as an issue. It failed in the UK and was not an ideal model, but we picked it up, tweaked it and rolled it out in Ireland. There are serious problems with it in terms of the appropriateness of people's placements. For the life of me, I do not see the benefit of paying people to give others the impression of the prospect of work while cutting off those who do not work where they are placed even if that work is inappropriate. I have serious doubts about this scheme. When I asked at the Committee of Public Accounts about how much we were paying for it, I could not get an answer because there was a confidentiality clause in the contract. This is not just about the contract, it is not just that there is a different approach. For many people, and perhaps the majority, the scheme's outcomes will not be good. It needs to be re-examined.

See this speech in context