Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am surprised at Senator Walsh's comments about the Minister for Public Service and Reform. His comments are typical of the obfuscation by the Fianna Fáil Party, in particular, given that an awful lot of the increments to which he referred were introduced under its stewardship. They were simply ways of hiding payments under the counter instead of calling them salaries which is what they deserved to be called. Many of the people to whom the Senator referred are poorly paid. He should start calling a spade a spade. We should start calling these payments core salary rather than increments which they are not.

With regard to the matters that arose over the past few months, I ask the Leader to give us an assurance that the Minister for Social Protection will come to the House. We have all read various notices in the newspapers on what may be in the next budget. It is important that we arrange a broad-ranging discussion on where we want social protection to go and debate it in an unexcited and unheated fashion.

I have noticed that Second Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill has gone before the Stormont Parliament. It is heading in the same direction that social welfare changes did in England and Wales which meant a rowing back on benefits. I am particularly concerned about the significant rowing back on benefits for young people in the UK. The move has been followed here by successive Governments. There is a suggestion that older people, people with disabilities and other sections of society cannot afford to take cuts but that young people can take numerous cuts. We need to discuss the issue in an open and frank fashion rather than pinpointing one section of society. It is as if a young person's interest in housing, social protection and the economy is not as important as that of other people. Aside from asking the Leader to invite the Minister for Social Protection to come to the House, I would also like him to arrange a special debate on youth affairs issues such as mental health, access to social protection, access to housing and employment activation measures.