Remember Jobsearch? Introduced 10 years ago, most people recall it involved ordering grown men and women to speak into bananas because their compulsory training courses couldn't afford telephones. Dole recipients complained that they were being humiliated, trained for non-existent jobs.
But if the Tanaiste's broadside this week is aimed at the same political constituency as previous "workfare" programmes, it occurs in an utterly changed labour market. Some observers say she has opened up what is essentially an ideological debate about long-term unemployment in a growing economy.
In her address to the Small Firms Association (SFA), and later on RTE news, Ms Harney went to the very edge of the guidelines set out by both the last and the current Government for deciding officers at the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs. Social welfare recipients under the age of 25 would be "cut off" after six months if they did not accept a training course, work experience or a job, she said. Those over 25 would face the same fate after one year on the dole.
Existing guidelines, introduced recently, already step up the pressure on welfare recipients to take jobs and training after three months. And tougher enforcement is already believed to be one factor behind the fall in the live register of late. However, enforcing the guidelines is a matter for the deciding officers and the success of the Tanaiste's approach will depend on their actions.
Ms Harney's views played exceptionally well with small business people, who have long complained that they simply cannot find employees. They would welcome a new pool of low-wage workers that they could draw upon in an increasingly competitive business environment. And a reduction in the State's annual £1 billion unemployment bill would, of course, please all taxpayers.
Many in the small business sector argue that the Republic should move away from the European model of social welfare payments and towards creating a US-style, low-wage tier of the economy.
Prof Brendan Walsh of University College, Dublin, argues that with the exception of Britain, Europe has accepted high levels of unemployment in exchange for the low inflation rate required by the Maastricht Treaty.
"In 1989, the European rate of unemployment was about 8 per cent, which was about 2 points higher than the 6 per cent in the United States. Now Europe is at around 12 per cent across the board, and almost 4 per cent in US," he says.
"Obviously the situation here is now more favourable than before. If we are not going to get unemployment down now, when the economy is growing at 8 per cent a year, we will never get it down," he adds.
It has now emerged that those who must implement social welfare policy, at the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs and at FAS, do not see Ms Harney's statement as a new initiative, and will continue to focus on matching real skills with real positions in the context of the guidelines issued months ago.
"There is this idea of throwing people off dole, but there is a process before it ever gets to that stage," one Department source said. "The emphasis is on finding them jobs - we don't want them off the live register this week and back in two weeks."
Last night FAS was at pains to state that the agency would not be cutting anyone off the dole and would continue to act "as honest brokers", matching skills to jobs. A spokesman added that even the infamous Jobsearch scheme brought many people onto the FAS occupational register, leading to new jobs.
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) says it has an idea how the system will work: for the first 13 weeks of unemployment, the recipient can be restrictive about what work or training he or she will accept, trying to get another job in his or her normal profession or trade. After this time, however, the burden of proof shifts; the recipient must make a reasonable argument to the deciding officer that he or she is likely to get a job.
Failing this, the deciding officer will try to guide the recipient towards a new profession, either through training or education, work experience or an available position. If someone absolutely refuses to co-operate with these efforts, the final sanction is to cut off payments, but this can be appealed.
While there is anxiety about these guidelines, says Mr Mike Allen, the INOU's general secretary, they still fall short of the British system.
"Under this, if you haven't found a job within 13 weeks you have to take anything, any low-paid, low-skills job," he says. "The Irish system is much more of a negotiation between Department and the individual."
He says Ms Harney's address to the Small Firms' Association put "a much more vindictive spin" on the existing policy, which has caused some alarm.
"For example, there is the case of some people who get a letter instructing them to come in for an interview, but they can't read, so they ignore the letter. Then they go to sign on, and they are told their income is gone, and possibly even their flat," he says. "And of course there's no one there to teach the guy to read."
Mr Seanie Lambe of the Inner City Organisations Network (ICON) says the people running the training courses were not consulted by the Tanaiste.
"Now, people come on a course because they want to. This new way will change the relationship between the trainers and the clients, and nobody has addressed the resource implications if this," Mr Lambe says.
But apart from wanting to provoke debate, business observers say Ms Harney had another agenda in adopting a more strident tone than usual. She neatly deflected criticism from IBEC, the SFA and the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises on her support for the introduction of a minimum wage, which has met a hostile response from the business lobbies.