Senator Ruane has outlined this issue very clearly. The answers to the questions on work experience are particularly important. This is quite a shift in general policy compared to what we have seen in the past. I was a member of the social protection committee in the previous Oireachtas. On that committee, we saw a lot of the problems with the JobPath-type solutions put forward. We saw people being routed into inappropriate jobs and poor rates of retention in the employment opportunities provided because contractor…

It is important that we be really clear that there is a shift in how things are done. The phrase “genuinely seeking work” was used. Recipients used to have to show they were genuinely seeking work and had to bring three or four letters showing they had actually applied for work. That is a reasonable bar and most people would be very happy to comply with it. I imagine that many people who would benefit from the scheme would be, but that is not the bar that is being put in place. It is not about offering support beca…

Minister, this-----

I have a final point. We will move to the other amendments then, but just to be clear for the record-----

I thank the Chair. To be clear, this is not a matter of long-term unemployed people but of people in their first 26 weeks or 39 weeks of unemployment, which is less than the first year of unemployment. I am referring to the first two months, three months or five months of unemployment. It would be more appropriate if they were left with access to the voluntary support. If they move off that page and become long-term unemployed, the other system is already in place for them. It is to the immediately and recently une…

We need to not talk about people and what they would like. To be clear, it is the case that people usually find employment within 12 or 14 weeks. That is why what we are asking people in those first three or four months is bizarre. At that time, they probably are trying to do their own work to find new employment or are thinking about their next options. Instead, we will create work for the system to require them to come to meetings and come up with plans and to require them to risk their payment if they say "No" t…

No, we are asking is it the case.

It is not the case. It is clearly different because you may choose to apply for work experience or not. In this legislation, you can be sent for work experience. To say they would simply take the job presumes that a job has been advertised or offered. You may well have companies saying they will take 20 people from your register. We will take 30 people and give them all work experience and the Department of social welfare can then pay them whatever amount it may be. It may well not be €450. We must bear in mind how…

The fundamental issue is how it is done and how people get treated. I sat on the social protection committee, which did a full review of JobPath and many of these measures. People were treated poorly and had poor quality experiences as a result. I want to highlight something else, which I will hopefully get a chance, although this Bill is being guillotined, to discuss further but the fact is that this is not a scheme to give people €450 a week. Many people will be on much lower incomes on this scheme. Due to it bei…

We oppose the section as a whole for some of the reasons outlined by my colleague but also because of some of the other very important problems with this scheme as it is designed. Some aspects of the scheme are sound, but there are fundamentally regressive aspects. The individualisation of the jobseeker's pay-related benefit payment means that many low income earners will be considerably worse off, compared to receiving jobseeker's benefit. Lower earners will be potentially disadvantaged, in particular. These are t…

I thank the Cathaoirleach. The Minister of State is welcome. The Bill too is welcome. I look at it alongside some of the other pieces of work in which Coimisiún na Meán is engaged. I wish to highlight the potential to do something more with the levy than is being proposed. When we were considering the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, one important aspect transposed the audiovisual directive. That directive had a protective function in the online media space and also had a mandate in respect of participation.…

I welcome the Minister. There has been much discussion of what this pact does and does not mean for Ireland, but first we must look at the much broader context in terms of modern migration and asylum and the deep roots of the current inequality and injustices that are leading to asylum seeking and migration. We have historical injustices and oppression. War displacement and injustice are all features of our collective history and shape the world around us today. Colonialism and the deliberate exploitation and under…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 11, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “Report on care 6. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining the measures taken to ensure that those who engage in care work outside the labour market are supported to ensure equitable access to, and outcomes from, under the scheme.”. Amendment No. 3 proposes to insert a new section in the Bill to require the Minister, within six months of the pass…

The Minister's answer points exactly to the problem which is that the commission's examination explicitly excluded consideration of the tax relief. It is not necessarily even about removal but reform of the private pension tax relief, which is currently set at a marginal rate. This means that a higher earner gets 40% tax rate relief. Low-income earners only get 20% tax relief. Not surprisingly, it is mainly higher earners who benefit. The research literally states that 70% of higher earners benefit. The Minister is…

It is a Government matter and this is a Government policy. It is a pension policy matter. The fact that we continually refuse to talk about the tax relief is a bad sign that it might not stand up. We are talking about the State and how we plan for the future of the population. In respect of constantly talking about tax relief and saying that the commission cannot talk about it - we could not talk about it today when we raised the issue in the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach …

Yes.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 11, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “Report on universal pension 6. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the introduction of a universal pension, which shall include— (a) detailed research and modelling on the potential introduction of a universal pension, including a cost benefit analysis of such a model as compared to current expenditures on contributory pensions, non-contributory pe…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 13, lines 13 and 14, to delete “with investment management providers”. Amendment No. 7 seeks to raise the fact that the practice of using external asset managers for State investments has left us open to portfolios where there may be significant human rights and environmental risks. Amendment No. 8 seeks to amend section 9(2)(a)(ii) of the Bill, which currently provides that the authority shall perform its functions in the way that appears to it best calculated to provide a high-qual…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 13, line 28, after “digital” to insert “and accessible”. I will withdraw the amendment in light of the Minister’s elaboration.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 15, line 1, after “governance,” to insert “gender equality,” Amendment No. 10 seeks to amend section 11 around the membership of the authority board by providing that one of the competencies which the Minister would seek is in gender equality. In my earlier contribution, I outlined how this is the part the State has got wrong. I saw it in great detail when, prior to being a Senator, I worked with Older and Bolder, the alliance of all the age organisations in Ireland. We held round t…