Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister and commend her on the vigour with which is she is tackling her new role. I also welcome the Bill before us.

The evolution of our social welfare system has been haphazard and ad hoc. Over many decades, successive Fianna Fáil Party Governments preferred to link new welfare entitlements to imminent elections rather than implementing a coherent welfare system. Accordingly, the new Government inherited a mess in many areas, the roots of which lie in the past. The Minister faces a formidable task as she seeks to reform the social welfare system. I am confident, however, that she will use her skills and experience to deliver real and lasting change to reform the system in a manner that makes it fair while removing loopholes which facilitate exploitation.

Reports of exploitation of the social welfare system, to which the media frequently refer, have undermined taxpayers' confidence in the social welfare system. People question whether the system is fair, transparent or equitable. This week, the Minister spoke of her efforts to eliminate the practice of prisoners claiming social welfare. I commend the Minister on her efforts in this regard. For how long has this loophole existed and why has none of the Minister's predecessors seen fit to tackle it? It is an affront to the victims of crime and community in general that a person put behind bars for a criminal offence should be able to draw social welfare benefits while in prison. I hope the Minister succeeds in stamping out this practice as a matter of urgency.

The social welfare system must be geared towards supporting the most vulnerable members of society. When the system is exploited less money is available to support the vulnerable, for instance, people with serious illnesses and those who cannot work to support themselves. In the context of unemployment, the Minister has spoken of social welfare being a hand up rather than a hand out. This philosophy must underpin our unemployment benefit system. The Government has put its money where its mouth is in respect of changing the social welfare culture from a hand out to a hand up mentality.

I commend the Minister on her decision to introduce a national internship scheme which offers qualified persons the opportunity to obtain valuable work experience for between six and nine months. She indicated she expects the scheme to help remove the catch-22 whereby people who have unexpectedly found themselves unemployed as a result of the financial crash and collapse of the construction sector cannot secure employment because they do not have any experience and cannot gain experience because they cannot secure employment.

Yesterday, I spoke about the Government's jobs initiative. The Bill gives effect to many of the measures in the jobs initiative. When enacted, it will restore the national minimum wage to its previous level of €8.65 per hour from 1 July. Contrary to Senator Reilly's view on the issue, lowering PRSI will have a positive economic effect as it will halve the lower rate of employer PRSI from 8.5% to 4.2%. This measure is important from an employer's point of view. The Government has engaged with employers, especially those whose businesses are struggling. This is an excellent example of joined up thinking among the Departments of Finance, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Social Protection, all of which have co-operated to deliver total solutions for businesses.

The Bill also provides for a range of activation incentives, including a new national internship scheme which will provide 5,000 places nationwide. Work placement will last for periods of between six and nine months and payments will be provided of €50 per week in addition to social welfare entitlements. Significantly, the scheme will operate in the private, public and voluntary sectors. As one who comes from a small village in County Kilkenny, I have been struck by the plight of young people, many of whom cannot find work and believe they have no option other than to emigrate. Accordingly, I am pleased with the various initiatives proposed by the Government in respect of training, education and upskilling for the unemployed.

As with other measures, the Bill, which forms an important component of the Government's overall strategy to kickstart the economy, is underpinned by evidence-based research and joined up thinking. I am pleased to support the proposed legislation.