Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader arrange for a debate on the capital assets implementation group and the report that is due? I hope that in advance of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, coming to the House, we can read and digest the report, given that its findings will be very important to farmers and students, who are afraid it will change the eligibility for college maintenance grants.

Senator Barrett mentioned pre-budget debates and Senator Bacik mentioned the ESRI report today, which criticised the OECD and IMF for misinterpreting data on Irish social welfare rates. As part of our pre-budget debates we should consider our social welfare rates, as there is transparency in the figures. We heard for a long time that unemployed people were better off on the dole than in work but we have always known that 94% of these people are better off in work; that has transpired in today's figures. Only 6% of social welfare recipients are better off not working. This must be a critical part of our pre-budget debate, as the Minister for Social Protection has not ruled out cutting social welfare rates further, despite being challenged by my colleague in the Dáil yesterday.