Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion, which I support without hesitation. I know the Minister is busy but it is unfortunate that she did not wait for the end of this important debate. The ideology is all on that side of the House, which is extraordinary given the constant jibes across the floor that we are ideologues. This is a very moderate and reasonable motion. It notes the commitment, hard work and professionalism of the people working in job clubs and local employment services. The Minister did the same in her speech, before going on to endorse a model that will undo all of that professionalism. The motion acknowledges "the importance and value that not-for-profit, community-based activation services provide for users". The Minister, however, went on to say she is going down the for-profit route because, first, experience tells her it is better and, second, we have no choice but to do so under European legislation, without providing any evidence whatsoever to back up that statement other than the advice of the god who is the Attorney General. We are not privy to that advice. We cannot see it and are not even told its context. We are simply told the advice has been received and the Minister is going right down that route.

The Acting Chairman, together with Deputy Kerrane, is a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, which produced a report on this issue. I had a priority question on it last week and I am glad of the opportunity to raise it again in this debate. We have all read the committee report, which includes nine recommendations, some of which overlap with the motion. It calls clearly on the Minister and the Government to see sense on this matter. It recommends that the Department review JobPath once the referrals cease. I will not read out all the recommendations but the last one asks that the Minister responds to the report. Perhaps the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, can tell us whether a formal response has gone back to the committee, which was unanimous in its recommendations. I do not see any minority report or any member diverging from the opinion set out. It is very unusual to have that happen with a cross-party committee. Even in the case of Sláintecare, there was some divergence, even though it was called an all-party committee report. In this instance, nobody diverged from the opinion and the nine recommendations. It places the democratic process in a very difficult position when a cross-party committee is pleading with the Minister not to take a particular action.

The Minister, in her speech, acknowledged the wonderful work that is being done in this area but then undertook to do the opposite of what was recommended by the joint committee. She is either trapped by the Department, trapped by an ideology or she fully endorses that ideology. I know her as a very hard-working Minister and I have often praised her on the floor of the Dáil. She must see sense in this matter. Everything needs to be paused. If an all-party committee is unanimous in saying "pause", among nine recommendations in its report, then we have to listen.

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