It’s not a welfare state to help the vulnerable
JUST as the furore about his remarks in relation to Travellers died down, presidential election candidate Peter Casey has found himself in hot water over comments likening Ireland to a ‘ welfare state’.
Following the backlash over his questioning of the ethnicity of Travellers and which he said they were ‘ basically people camping on other people’s land’, he again finds himself in the eye of a storm as his comments about the welfare system in Ireland received very mixed reaction.
In an open letter in the Sunday Independent he said that Ireland is becoming ‘a nation of people who expect - no demand - that the State looks after them’.
This is just simply not the case. The vast majority of people in this country who receive welfare support do so because they have no other choice.
Most people want to work and want to be independent, and not leaning on the State for a lifetime. I think what Casey meant was that the so called middle earners who are being squeezed time and time again with no incentive to keep it going.
He views people who are ‘ living’ off welfare as the winners in this situation and the middle income taxpayers as the losers.
Unfortunately it’s not to clear cut in reality and while it would be great to have everyone educated, working and self sufficient, this will never be the case.
I agree that there are some people who don’t want to work and who could contribute more to society but on the whole this is a very small minority.
Casey’s remarks were probably directed towards these people rather than lone parents or old age pensioners or those with a disability or caring for loved ones.
Nobody in the right might would criticise those who truly need support.
Anyone who thinks those who are totally dependent on the State for support are living the high life is wrong, and it’s no picnic making a few hundred Euro spread to support a household for an entire week.
Casey is coming at this from a businessman’s perspective with the bottom line in mind, not the many social factors that come into play with regard to social welfare. There are always going to be vulnerable people who need support from a wider society and while it may look like they have no worries because they receive State benefits, this is really not the case.