David Norris (Independent)

I win once every three weeks on average but it is always the same amount, €75, which is not worth a damn. It is just a provocation and a tease. I would prefer to get nothing until I win the big one. The serious point I am making is that we must all pull together and that those of us who are in a better position must not be looking to see what others have got; we must all try to get something done.

I wish to read some heartbreaking letters which I received today and to which I replied immediately. One is from a decent young man living in a provincial town who writes:

I am one of the many people who after being involved in construction is in dire financial straits. However, I am not a big developer. The company I had has ceased trading and I have gone back since to work as a PAYE worker although I do not know how long I will be able to hold onto my job. The situation I am in has left me paralysed with anxiety, not knowing if I will ever get out of the mess I am in. MABS is a big help. [Thank God for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service but it is very limited in what it can do.] Unfortunately, I did not conduct all my business through my limited company and, thus, am liable for personal debt as well. I have had to get the help of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on two occasions but when you have young kids, you have to do what you have to do. I am owed money and, in turn, I owe money. Hard work always got me places and I worked for other people. I felt if I worked hard enough for myself everything would come right but sometimes work is not enough.

His letter continues to state he is starting a law course and has already passed four of its elements. It takes some of the strain and anxiety off him but he does not know where to turn. He is a young man with a young family who has worked hard. These are the kind of people we cannot, for shame, abandon. Those of us who have something must be prepared to make sacrifices. I will support the Government if it proposes 10%, 15% or 20% cuts in our wages and for everyone else in the country. We must give decent hard-working people the opportunity to get back to work.

A young builder I know, one of the finest men I have ever encountered, with a lovely young family put all his money into Bank of Ireland shares. Everything he worked for is now all gone. How disillusioning is such a removal of incentive? This is what we must address and not for any mean-minded party advantage, although I do not accuse Fine Gael of that.

Will Senator John Paul Phelan explain the clause in the motion which calls for the Government to exempt employers from paying PRSI on any additional staff that they take on in 2009? I would not like to disadvantage workers. If this clause removes their entitlements or diminishes them in any way, I will be against the motion.