Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

Other speakers referred to a culture of entitlement and dependency. We need to change that, which will only be done by investing in education and providing opportunities for these people to return to the workplace. We must invest in proper child care and make it easier to transition from unemployment to work. Our social welfare system is reasonably generous and is designed to support the most vulnerable but it also has design flaws that are not easily fixed. Significant amounts of money are going into households yet the children can be described as deprived and neglected. Factors include poor parenting, bad money management and drink and addiction problems. These areas must be addressed. Like Senator Quinn, I raised the issue of part payment through clothing and food vouchers at a recent Oireachtas committee meeting and I was lambasted by Social Justice Ireland.