Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. She must feel a cold wind around her Department as the budget approaches. The demands on her Department will not alone be as bad as last year but on the basis of public statements from the Taoiseach down, the budget will be even worse. I do not envy the Minister her job.

I could not help but reflect on a statement made in September 2011 to the effect that, for all that we are living through difficult times, we must always maintain a threshold of decency. That was said by the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, at a pre-Dáil term meeting of the Labour Parliamentary Party. The Minister made reference to the troika and the banking regulator. It is somewhat apt that she should do so. Her Department is primarily responsible for looking after the vulnerable in society, the socially and economically disadvantaged. Many in society depend on the Department of Social Protection to put food on the table. Stark statistics emerged in recent days, which even I find hard to grasp, to the effect that 450,000 in this country find it hard to put food on the table. There was a letter from the wife of a garda who wrote about having ?cornflakes days?. What kind of society are we becoming? It all seems to be because of the imposition of austerity concepts by the troika on this country in recent years and for the immediate future. It is obvious that there is a growing volume of criticism that austerity alone does not work and that some form of growth policies must also be in place. The Government has grappled with this particular conundrum since it was first elected last year. Despite its best efforts, a range of job initiatives and various other policy initiatives, the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high. I referred to 450,000 people, of whom approximately 300,000 are hard-core cases. What is frightening and of more concern is that the queue of those who are long-term unemployed is lengthening.

That is the scenario in which the Minister is now going to have to put forward her budget proposals in the coming months. I appreciate that the money must be found somewhere but the argument is that the money could be found elsewhere rather than through attacking the poor and the vulnerable. It was interesting to hear the Minister?s impressive outline of various headings, in particular relating to community employment schemes. I applaud her for the initiatives she has taken in that regard. Great public concern was evident at the beginning of the year, which was reflected by all parties and by anyone who operates at local level and is aware of the importance of the schemes. A great deal of uncertainty surrounded the transfer of the schemes to the Department. The Minister?s promised review has taken the edge off much of the concern. The facts, as the Minister has outlined them, are impressive and heartening. I refer specifically to the fact that there has been no reduction in the number of places available on community employment schemes. That is the bottom line.