Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Most other European countries are experiencing the very same difficulties with unemployment as we are. Places such as Australia and Canada really only want people who are well trained and who fit into specific categories. They specify what they want. We are not talking about young people who have worked and we are not talking about people who were on jobseeker's benefit.

Let us take the example of twins, as outlined by Senator Doherty, who will lose their jobs, one at the end of this month and the other at the beginning of next month whom he alleges will be treated differently. They will not be treated differently. We are talking about people who have never worked, who do not have sufficient PRSI contributions to be able to get jobseeker's benefit. Senator Doherty also inquired about how we will treat 25 year olds and 26 year olds differently.