Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It has come to my attention during the past couple of days that 8% of public servants are in receipt of the family income supplement, FIS, which is a worrying statistic. This would suggest that a section of middle Ireland is caught between a rock and a hard place and under severe financial pressure. Government has promised a spring statement in the coming months regarding the economy and equality and ensuring the green shoots we are seeing benefit all sectors of society. I believe this spring statement should focus on middle Ireland, namely, the people who work hard and have suffered enormously in terms of the financial challenges we have faced in recent years. It is important something is done to assist this group of people in exiting from the poverty trap in which they find themselves. Some 20 or 30 years ago one would never have believed that 8% of public servants in this country would require financial support from the State. That this is the case is illustrative of the collapse that has taken place.

I ask that in due course the Leader provide for a debate on creative ways of assisting middle Ireland and people who are struggling, particularly working couples who are paying for everything and get very little. This will be a significant challenge but none the less one that we have to face up to over the next couple of years.