Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

That is not what the Minister said. She said this only affected those who had never worked. That is okay because all of us make mistakes. I made one when I spoke about the circumstances of the 25 year old. People need to have made contributions for two years. They may have worked for a year and a half but will still be treated in this way. There will still be that anomaly between brothers and the person who loses his or her job pre-Christmas and the person who will lose his or her job post-Christmas. There will be a 50% reduction for the person who will lose his or her job after 1 January. How do we deal with this? I pose that question again, as the answer the Minister gave me was that this would not affect them because it only affected those who did not work. She has acknowledged that is a mistake and that it will affect them. These provisions will impact on people who have made contributions, paid their taxes and contributed to the State and the economy. They will see reductions of more than 50%.

I asked the Minister a question about the circumstances of a 25 year old and a 26 year old. I acknowledged that I had made a mistake and the Minister dismissed it as such. How can we differentiate between a 24 year old and a 25 year old? It is the same principle. Why should a 24 year old take a cut of more than €50, while a 25 year old will not have to take any cut?

I want to ask the Minister another question because I want to understand her logic.

If the Government feels it needs to - in its own language - create an incentive for people to go into training, upskilling and education, why is this measure only being introduced for new applicants? The Minister has said she has research which deals with those who are 18 and 19 and which indicates they need that incentive. If this works, is good policy and will get people working in the economy, why are we leaving out all the 7,000 under-25s in Cork, the 6,000 under-25s in Donegal and the others on the live register currently in those age groups? Why is the incentive not extended to them and what is this all about?

I do not understand this action and completely disagree with it. I want to tease out the details to help me understand it a bit better. Why are we creating these anomalies within this legislation and treating the person who has lost his or her job before Christmas differently to a person who loses it after Christmas? Why are we treating those who are 24 and 25 differently? Why are we treating those who are currently unemployed under 25 differently from those who will become unemployed in January?