Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. We had a very good debate last night when he made a comment about being a reforming Minister for Social Protection. I would love if we could have a debate, devoid of partisan politics, on social protection and on the role of the Department that was once the Department of Social Welfare.

Senator Mullen was partly correct in saying the individualisation introduced by the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, did considerable damage. The biggest attack on marriage and family has not been the passage of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill or the inclusion in today's Bill of the provisions relating to that legislation. The biggest attack on family life has been the economic policy pursued by the Government. There are families today in which children are hungry, parents are idle, and there is fear and concern. In some cases, when they walk up the stairs they are afraid to go to bed. That is the biggest attack on family life. It is not civil partnership, gay marriage or divorce, but the Government's economic policies.

I welcome the change being made in FÁS. I have immense time for the people on the front line in FÁS, the community and enterprise supervisors, training instructors and those working in the front and back offices in the agency. They provide a very sound service and I know from my dealings with FÁS people in Cork that they are fantastic people with whom to deal and work. Part of the problem we have is the malaise with the top tier where leadership is lacking. The issues regarding certification for some of the courses need to be addressed. While I may appear to be piggybacking, although I do not mean to, perhaps it is time we changed the name of FÁS and rebranded it to give it a new start. The Minister used the phrase, "Tús maith, leath na hoibre". In this case that is what needs to happen. When the people hear of FÁS they think of expensive excursions abroad and the bad courses that have not been certified.

I am concerned about the integration process. The Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Education and Skills, and Social Protection are all involved, which indicates that joined-up thinking is needed and I hope that happens. I believe the Minister said it needs to be customer centred and employment focused, and I hope that is what we will see.

We face an enormous housing challenge with thousands on housing waiting lists. Senator McFadden made some very good points in her excellent address on which the Minister should focus and I suggest he work with her. If I took her up right, she made those points in a non-partisan manner. We have a job of work to do regarding landlords. I will walk with the Minister every step of the way in this regard. I have appeared before the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, with residents who were taking on landlords. If the figures indicating there are 150,000 tenants but PPS numbers for only 31,000 are correct, it is an indictment of how badly we are doing our business. We have landlords in every university town and elsewhere who are appalling. They have no regard for the communities in which they live or for the people to whom they let their houses, and they need to be brought to task. I am in favour of a radical review of the rent supplement scheme but are the houses of the landlords participating in the scheme fit for habitation, are the landlords registered, are they tax compliant and are they looking after their tenants' needs? I fear they are not. I could bring the Minister to houses not too far from my constituency office and my house in Cork where landlords are not doing so. They do not give a damn.

I wish to deal with the partial capacity benefit provision in section 12. I am concerned about the manner in which there is a differentiation in this respect. The Minister is bringing out a model based upon on a medical evaluation rather than a social model. I am concerned about that. I spoke about this during the debate on the Social Welfare Bill last night. This will have a detrimental effect on people with disabilities.