Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will get Senator Moloney more precise figures. Senator Moloney made a good point about employability services. I launched the employability service when the staff involved moved to the new offices in Galway. People should consider the difference the service has made. A number of services are run throughout the country to help people with disability to get into relevant jobs that they like and enjoy, rather than shoving a round hole into a square box. Fantastic work is under way in this area. Since becoming Minister of State for activation I have been promoting employability services throughout the country and I hope to visit many more and assist them.

Senator Quinn asked directly about the back-to-work enterprise allowance. There have been 10,897 recipients of the allowance. This is about getting people who have been unemployed back to set up their own businesses. It has been working well. Senator Quinn will probably be looking at proceedings in his office. The Intreo offices are assisting people who have been long-term unemployed into employment and the figures are showing this. The group engagements are working well. Group engagement services are given to people on the live register who wish to set up their own businesses.

Unfortunately, I would at some stage enjoy having a longer debate about stopping the children's allowance after the second child. I have it to say that Senator Quinn dodged a bullet. I disagree with that and I would like to go through the areas and why I would disagree with him. Anyway, Senator Quinn is not here. I know he had to go to an important meeting. It is not that he is not doing other work.

Child care was raised by Senator Quinn as well and I accept that it is a problem. Work is being carried out by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, in this area. The issue came up recently at a Cabinet sub-committee. The Taoiseach has taken quite an interest in this area.

Senator Quinn should note that several services are tackling people who have been quite a distance from the employment market. These include Gateway and Tús. They are actively helping people who are long-term unemployed to get back into work.

I thank Senator Brennan for his remarks and support. He raised the issue of social welfare fraud. There is a special investigation unit with 91 offices and 290 inspectors. Therefore, the Department of Social Protection does not take fraud lightly. It is actively working on the issue.

Senator Cullinane referred to low pay. I would be very interested in a wider debate on this. The Tánaiste has appointed the Minister of State, Deputy Gerald Nash, to address this issue. He set up a commission and the discussion is ongoing. Certainly, we are delivering in this regard. I very much welcome the commission and look forward to its recommendations.

Under-employment is very much an issue. I refer to people on 20 and 30-hour contracts. I believe the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, will deal with this. Senator Cullinane said he would not refer to broken promises. The Government made one very clear promise, namely, that it would get the country back on its feet. The unemployment rate is now dropping and the number of people employed is growing. Certainly, the commitment in this regard has been honoured. Senator Cullinane said he would like to see more people employed in schools. In the latest budget, 1,700 additional resource places were provided for in the education system. During the worst years of the recession, we built classrooms rather than prefabs. There is much to be said for that.

Reference was made to an individual of the disability allowance who was not paid the Christmas bonus. One will probably find he was on illness benefit. If he applies for the disability allowance, he may be entitled to it. We can take this up afterwards if the Senator wants to provide to me the details.

The increase of €2 million for the school meal programme is very welcome.

I brushed over the relevant issues very quickly but we will have a longer engagement on them next week on Committee and Report Stages. Senators are very much looking forward to that, as am I. The interaction will be as constructive as I always find it. I hope to be taking Committee and Report Stages if the Tánaiste cannot do so. I look forward to engaging with the Senators next week and thank them very much.