Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Taoiseach to the House. I wish to take this opportunity to bring some very important issues to his attention. It is time for a change, but it is radical change that will make a difference to all our people. It is time for us to accept that the recovery that is taking place has broken down on the M50. The people of Ireland beyond the M50 have yet to experience any recovery.

We need to spread the recovery across the country. Let us create an Ireland where a person works hard, earns well, saves well, gets equal pay for equal work and it does not matter where he or she comes from. I attended a protest today outside Gaelcholáiste in Carlow. I gave my full support to the teachers and the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI. The inequality in teachers' pay has contributed in no small way to the current shortage of teachers. The same situation has affected the crisis in nursing. Many of our graduates are choosing to go abroad.

The Taoiseach spoke recently about parents lending their children money for a first-time deposit on a house. Parents are under so much pressure to try to send their children to third level education. PAYE workers are now having to remortgage or borrow from the banks or credit unions to try to give their children a chance in life, as there is no such thing as free education. Let us create an Ireland where there are people to listen, plenty of jobs and happy workplaces. We deserve decent health care and homes to hang our hats in across this island.

Right now, there are people in rural island holding their cap in their hand without hope in their heart or a future to look forward to. While there are parties, events, lights and glitter on the streets of Dublin, there are good people all over rural Ireland imprisoned in their own homes, unable to afford to travel and with no access to public transport. The ones who have a home to call their own are the lucky ones. God forbid if anything were to happen and people had to go to a doctor. They cannot afford to miss work. Then they are destined to spend years on a waiting list waiting for a diagnosis, not to mention the actual treatment.

People try to shop smartly, grow vegetables, prepare clothing, get everything ready for their children, buy economically and yet some children are still going to school hungry. This is a reality. Tools are stolen from vehicles in yards and machinery from sheds. People do not live luxurious lives. They hope the bank will negotiate a better deal for them. Every day, their hopes are dashed. The jobs go to Dublin while the tired rural workers commute for hours daily to work in Dublin, rural shops close, businesses close, post offices struggle, older people feel invisible, people move away and villages yawn under the tiredness of trying.