Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I refer to the non-adjacent third level maintenance grant. It is an investment in our young people's education whereas if they are on the dole, it costs the State more than €9,000 annually. The dole only sustains claimants and it does not represent an investment. People are left at home without anything to do and they are degraded whereas if they were educated, it would provide a means to an end and it would be an investment in them and their quality of life.

There is no mention, good, bad or indifferent, of self-employed people who are down on their luck and who have absolutely nothing. There is no leg up available to them to get them back into business. Most of them have worked all their lives. They are prepared to work and they want to bring this country back to a good place in the world. They have been left to rot and there is no compassion or regard for them. They have paid tax and PRSI throughout their lives. I visited a family in that extreme situation last night. They have nothing and they do not know how they will put food on the table. The Government has not given them support. They have paid tax, PRSI and employed people for years.