YOUNG FINE Gael’s proposal to dispense child benefit in the form of vouchers has been described as “mad” by one of the party’s senators.
The proposal was adopted at a weekend summer school of the main opposition party’s youth wing, held in Bundoran, Co Donegal.
Delegates voted for a motion from the Trinity College Dublin branch, “That Child Benefit should be distributed in the form of vouchers to ensure that it is used directly and purposefully for the benefit of the child.
“These vouchers would be redeemable in the Republic of Ireland for groceries, children’s clothes, educational materials and junior sports equipment and could not be used for the purchase of alcohol or for use in any leisure activities.”
In response to questioning on the TodayFM programme, The Sunday Supplement yesterday, Senator Paschal Donohoe said: “I think that’s a pretty mad idea, to be perfectly honest.”
But he pointed out that, “They are autonomous, they are independent of the main party, they can come up with whatever ideas they want.”
Young Fine Gael president Barry Walsh claimed the McCarthy report had given young Irish people a choice of “flight or fight”.
“The fact that mass forced emigration is not only a reality once again, but may actually become a factor in government policy to act as a safety valve for the economy, as indicated by the recent McCarthy report, is a stark indicator of just how far our great nation has fallen,” he said.
But Young Fine Gael supporters would remain and fight, confident that the government will be toppled in a general election and that there will be a “radical shake-up” of the political system.
“If the local elections last June showed us anything, it is that the people of Ireland have embraced the idea of a radical shake-up of our political system, our style of leadership, our type of politics, and our economic way of life. The challenge for us now is to build on this success and to map out a means of translating it into a general election victory which would reposition us as the largest party in Dáil Éireann, and the largest party of government,” he said.
The weekend gathering also voted for social partnership deliberations and negotiations to be televised and for public sector workers to have their immunity from prosecution for striking suspended.
Delegates also adopted motion that “social welfare should be cut in line with the cost of living”.
They also voted for the motion that, “in the event of a severe, incurable and painful physical illness, the patient has the right to die at the time of their own choosing – on the condition of family and medical consent” (proposed by UCD branch).