Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have listened to the Minister and many of the speakers this morning. There are more than 48,000 people on the PUP in Cork alone. I have heard the Government speakers talk about the living alone allowance, the exceptional needs payment - let us get it right, the exceptional needs payment is only a once-off payment - the other payments and the retrofitting scheme. These speakers are missing the point. This motion is about giving families and workers a bit of a break. We have an emergency and we are asking for emergency measures to be put in place to support the people of our country.

I heard some rhetoric a while ago. The Government is worrying about everybody else. It should stop trying to score political points. This is about public representation in the House. We are elected to represent the people outside the Houses. We hear this rhetoric and are told that the Government has spent A, B and C. That is taxpayers' money, the money of the people of the country. The Government should not try to fool people outside the House by saying this cannot be done. It was done for the banks. The Government did not have to make excuses but rather bailed them out. Who is bailing people out now? It is the taxpayer once again. The money the Government has borrowed to cover these payments will have to be paid back. Who is going to pay for that? It will be paid for by the same gang the Government is hitting with its tax on the PUP. It is not listening to the people outside the door who have lost their jobs. Banks are unfortunately not playing ball with mortgage holders. We hear this every day in our constituency offices.

People are poor. A friend of my family has a disability and has had a heart attack. He is lucky enough to live on his own. Every day he goes to a bus stop to sit and talk to people. He then gets on a bus to stay warm before getting off in the next town or village where he does the same thing again. He does this all day and all night until he gets home. That is the reality of what is happening in this country. We are talking about a temporary measure involving a minuscule €28 a week. Let us get our heads out of the sand and do the right thing. The Minister should listen to and support Deputy Kerrane's motion.

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