Paul Murphy condemns 90-euro welfare fines as 'Tory sense'
Paul Murphy criticised the plan to introduce 90 euro fines for people on jobseekers' payments who refuse to engage with employment services, calling the policy "Tory sense" and likening it to I, Daniel Blake–style reforms. He argued the fines will deepen poverty, harm children, and pointed to evidence from Britain of severe harm.
Policy opposition
Paul Murphy said the proposed 90 euro fines are not common sense but "Tory sense," and described them as another attempt by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens to introduce I, Daniel Blake style social welfare reform. He recalled a previous green paper on disability payments that was defeated by an active campaign and warned this measure is being advanced without much fanfare.
Evidence from Britain and projected harms
Murphy said similar policies in Britain have not forced people into work but have driven them into deeper poverty and misery, citing instances of suicide and starvation after benefits were cut. He warned that if similar outcomes occur here, responsibility will lie with the government.
Impact on children and poverty statistics
Murphy emphasised that cutting social welfare hurts children most and cited figures from his speech: one in seven children growing up in poverty, one in eight parents using food banks, and one in four parents unable to afford food. He argued that sanctions will worsen child poverty and urged withdrawal of the measure even at a late stage.
Concerns about compulsory providers
He also raised the difficulty for people with mental health challenges or other barriers in facing private employment services, naming SeaTec and Tourist Nua as examples of providers people may struggle to engage with.
Taoiseach's response and budget measures
The Taoiseach replied that the measure targets people who are not certified sick and who refuse training or engagement after a prolonged period, not those unfit for work. He said the government has increased the qualified child income payment — calling it the largest increase ever — and boosted working family payments and other child poverty measures in the budget led by evidence from the Child Poverty Unit. The Taoiseach defended the sanction as a common-sense correlation between long-term benefit receipt and the ability to work, train, or certify sickness, acknowledging disagreement on the point.
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Taoiseach, I know you're quoted as saying that the introduction of 90 euro fines for people on jobseekers' payments who so-called refuse to engage with employment services is common sense. I put it to you that it is not good sense anyway, it is really Tory sense. This is another attempt by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens to introduce I, Daniel Blake style social welfare reform. You tried it with the green paper in terms of disability payments and that was defeated by an active campaign. But now you're going again without much fanfare trying to get through this really cruel cut. This is something that is tried and tested in Britain. And what the results from Britain show is that immiserating people who depend on social welfare will not force them into work. It just drives them further into poverty, further into misery. In England, it has led to suicide, even starvation among people who have had their benefits cut. That will be on this government if it happens here. And the main point I'd make to you is that cutting someone's dole does not just hurt the adult involved. It hurts their kids even more. It is not the kids' fault if their parents are crushed by mental health issues, unable to face going to one of these awful private companies, SeaTec or Tourist Nua, unable to get themselves out to work. It is not their fault. We have one in seven children who are growing up in poverty. One in eight parents are using food banks. One in four parents cannot afford to put food on the table. This cut is going to make things worse. I would urge you to withdraw it even at this late stage. Deputy Murphy, I just want to be really clear here. This is not about somebody who has a mental health challenge and can't go to work or somebody who is sick and can't go to work. This is about people who have not been certified as sick or will not engage with any form of education or training after a protracted period of time. I do take the point very seriously that you make about the children in a household led by a jobless parent are more at risk than child poverty. I think that is a truthful statement. It is factually correct. That is why we have taken a number of measures in this budget led by the evidence from the Child Poverty Unit in my own department. We have increased the qualified child income payment. I think it is the largest increase ever. After the weekly payments in the budget for social protection, the next largest total amount of increase was in relation to those child poverty measures. We have also increased working family payments as a result of this budget. This is a measure that is the opposite of how you characterise it in my view. But there does obviously have to be some degree of correlation between the benefit that you receive for a sustained period of time and an ability to either enter the workforce, enter training or education, or indeed certify that you are sick or have a disability. So I certainly don't see it in any way as drastic or dramatic. I do see it as a common sense measure and we may disagree on that.
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