Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Boyd Barrett raises an interesting position that if the centre forgets the extremities, it causes friction, anxiety, rage, street violence and a growth of the hard right and left. I agree with the sentiment and in many cases it is what has happened. As the Deputy indicated, the so-called sensible centre has forgotten the extremities. It has not happened here. The north inner city is a case in point, because people were neglected and things were left behind. It is critical that Government is not just listening but is engaging and going to act.

The committee deals with a range of social issues, such as discussing the expansion of preschool provision under the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, the publication of the Government's action plan for educational inclusion, developing the new national disability inclusion strategy, implementing the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities, establishing a task for on personalised budgeting for people with disabilities, and developing a new national drugs strategy. It also deals with initiatives to address the problems in the north inner city and the establishment of a youth mental health task force. The Cabinet committee is committed to progressing strategies and some of them have happened. There has been the publication of the Action Plan for Education and an increase in the number of special needs assistants to 12,600 to the end of 2016, an increase of 2,235 since September 2011.

There has been the establishment of the Irish refugee programme to take up to 4,000 refugees here in Ireland. With regard to the McMahon report, the vast majority of those who have been here for more than four years have been dealt with, except those in judicial review. New legislation takes effect early in January and we will fast-track applications. Self-catering has been introduced to Mosney and it will be replicated in other places. The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, is looking hard at what can happen here.

There has been the introduction of two weeks of paternity leave and an associated social welfare payment, the expansion of the preschool provision under the ECCE programme and the implementation of the McMahon report findings on direct provision, including the upgrading of facilities in direct provision centres. We have seen the establishment and ongoing work under the north inner city task force, as well as the establishment of the youth mental health task force. They have been done. There has been progress in including key new national strategies relating to disability inclusion, Traveller and Roma inclusion, the national women's strategy, integration and the new national drugs strategy. Additionally, budget 2017 provided for a new single affordable child care scheme, with universal subsidy for children aged between six months and three years available for all families. There was also the increase of €5 per week in the State pension and all social welfare payments, a cut in the universal social charge for middle and lower income earners, an increase of €100 in the tax credit for home carers and an increase of €36.5 million in funding for higher and further education. These are important issues.

The best example is the fall in unemployment to 7.7% and an increase in the number of people working to more than 2 million. It is the best route from poverty. We have not done all that we would like to do, and that is why Deputy Burton's point is so important. We must have a managed process to deal with everybody in a fair way so as not to destroy the economic gains made both by the Deputy when she was part of the Government and for the future. Nobody wants to wreck this now.

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