John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, line 2, to delete “For the purposes of this Chapter, the Minister” and substitute “The Minister”.

I will not take up a lot of time. We want to make some fairly straightforward points. The Minister referred to another recession. It is also worth noting that in the best of times businesses face challenges, products and services change and evolve and parts of a town become more or less popular. This safety net will always be necessary, irrespective of whether there is a recession.

Deleting the chapter would mean that the following provisions would apply equally whether those who were to receive jobseeker's benefit were employed or self-employed. In other words, there would be continuity and people would be treated equally whether they got jobseeker's benefit having come from an employed or self-employed background.

See this speech in context