Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As many as 22,000 young people have got an opportunity. Would I have liked those young people to get a full-time job straight away and at their first interview? Of course I would.

I have been involved in the education of Irish students for more than 20 years and as such I have more ambition for them than the Senator or his party seems to have. He spoke very movingly about the unemployment situation in Waterford and I share his concern. The people in Waterford come from a long tradition of skilled craftsmen and have made a skilled contribution to the country in a variety of ways. Waterford experienced a great disaster when Waterford Glass went out of production because there was no guarantee available around 2007. Given the skills tradition in Waterford we should be ambitious for Waterford. We should offer the young people in Waterford city and county opportunities in education and training.

My view of the matter differs from the Senator Cullinane's party. In the North, Sinn Féin is happy to pay young people of the same age a social welfare payment of £57 which translates roughly into €67 per week. However, Sinn Féin has the nerve to come in here and lecture the Government of the South when its party, which has been in the government in the North for more than a decade, has not prioritised young people as far as I am aware. His party's leadership in the North has gone on a lot of missions to the United States. However, Sinn Féin gave nothing like the priority that we give to young people in the South. I am not saying that we are perfect in the South but we try very hard. I have supported all efforts in the North to help its young people to secure work.

Today's provision is a change and I admit that change is difficult. I understand that people like Senator Cullinane find it difficult to adapt to changing and moving away from a passive system of social welfare that gives somebody a weekly payment without worrying what happens to them afterwards. That is like a teacher walking into a classroom who sits at the top of the room with folded arms and does not bother to help the people in his or her class to achieve their goals in life. I realise that such change is difficult for Sinn Féin.