Sir, – Not only do the self-employed find it difficult to obtain social welfare when they’re between work (and the next time many of them could get work possibly will be 2035); but Irish citizens who have returned to the ould sod; and also residents of this country who are of no fixed address – and through the apparent bloodymindness of the community welfare officers and other State apparatuses can’t get a subsistence payment.
This is a failure of the State and society, so I suggest, without a hint of being jocose, that in Dublin city, a location should be chosen, where people of no means, once verified by the Garda Síochána, can beg legally. To protect people from the indignity of being a mendicant, you could have an office in this building where people could contribute to a fund (or via a bank account) with the aim that recipients would get the equivalent of State payments.
I see this building as a monument reflecting the callousness of the majority of the Dáil, and they needn’t hide behind the whip, that’s up there with the dog ate my homework. – Yours, etc,