Dáil debates

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

Children's Rights: Motion [Private Members]

 

4:00 pm

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

You did not apply those rules a few minutes ago. Does anybody deny a wide range of cuts to public spending were introduced before the Labour Party came to government? When the Labour Party came into government, the unemployment rate was 15% and it was 8.8% and falling fast when we left. There was €500 million per year available for a jobs fund and 40,000 training places were made available annually to get people back to work. We reversed cuts to the minimum wage. I know because I was delegated by the Labour Party to ensure it happened. It meant a further €3,000 per year went to every full-time worker because of the reversal of the cuts to the minimum wage and it being raised afterwards. That was real help for families and children, and it amounted to more help than protest marches.

Household income rose while the Labour Party was in government and inequality fell. Material deprivation decreased by a third in our time in office, and at the same time we managed to reduce the national deficit so we could exit the troika programme earlier. As somebody who sat at the table, I can bet that the troika would have cut far more severely and savagely if the Labour Party had not been in office to protect people. I was there and I know it. What about the free GP service for children under six? It was the first tranche in a commitment to universality in the area, which is very important. I know what it is like to meet families who do not have €50 or €60 to pay a GP. People welcomed that initiative at the time but it was cut from this debate and there has been no mention of it happening at all.

More than 2,200 estates were unfinished when I was given the portfolio I held for nine months before I resigned. Many people, including Deputies in this House, told me to knock the houses because they were built in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were perhaps four estates that were demolished but I set up a programme to ensure others were finished over a period by providing a few million euro here and there to local authorities. Anybody can check the record as those estates were finished. I admit that some houses were built in the wrong places and this came from bad planning etc. We had to carry that can as a legacy of the Celtic tiger. I could say more, but people should make up their own minds in a fair and objective way about the parties or politicians that did their best for people in dire circumstances and for the country at a difficult time.

The Labour Party has moved the motion tonight on providing a fair start for every child to send a clear message to the Government that its policies are simply not adequate to achieve what has been promised. There have been some achievements, which we acknowledge, as we are not churlish. If the Government does some good, we should be clear, honest and say the Minister, Deputy Zappone, and others have done well. Now we are in a better place, we need to accelerate the delivery of the objectives.

As I stated, Labour brought forward this motion in part to remember the democratic programme of the First Dáil and the spirit of 1919, when the people of Ireland for the first time democratically elected representatives who they hoped would deliver a people's Government and address the pressing needs of the people arising from the dire poverty that was common at the time. We have a vision and it is outlined in the motion. Others may have a different vision. I am sure Fianna Fáil has a vision, and fair play to it, we compliment the party on that. We do not think we have a divine right, as some believe, and that our view is the only valid one. This is our contribution in trying to make improvements, and if somebody comes forward with adequate or positive amendments, whether it is Sinn Féin, Deputy Gino Kenny or anybody else, we will be on board.

We are in a new era and we cannot always hark back to the past. By looking in the rear-view mirror the only thing we get is a crick in our necks. We must look forward and consider how we can help young people get a fair start from the cradle all the way through. The first ten years of life are very important and I know all about that. No matter where they come from and what background they have, young people should have the opportunity to participate in second level education. In fairness, Fianna Fáil did this with the actions of Donogh O'Malley in the 1960s. I salute that work. Does Deputy Rabbitte believe I will argue it was a bad policy? It was a brilliant policy and Mr. O'Malley did it off his own bat. Fair play to him, and we need more Ministers with such initiative now. He was not circumscribed by the bureaucrats and he acted on that policy. Fair play to him, he has left an enduring legacy. I personally gained from it and I am very thankful for that. I will remember it. If somebody comes up with a policy, it should not mean others have to decry it.

I am surprised we are not pulling the rope one way with this. I was surprised by the level of rancour in the debate as I have never seen such bitterness before.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.