Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

The Minister has mentioned she has no proposals to change the arrangements. I am bold enough to ask her to take on board the proposals I have made in this Chamber, namely, to look at the Pobal measuring system in order to identify areas of deprivation and perhaps subsequently change the terms of reference regarding extensions for a further year which are allowed only as part of the part-time integration option. Areas seen to be deprived under the Trutz Haase measurement system might be included. As the Minister stated, the position for long-term unemployed persons did not change, even during the boom times. Having such an option would alleviate some of the problems under discussion.