His second issue is that he made a stand against the household property tax by refusing to pay. This was a conscientious decision, and we all know the conscientious decisions that have been made in the Dáil over the past number of weeks, which people are entitled to make. Because of this, if he was to receive work-----

We are over time.

-----he would not be able to gain a tax compliance certificate, which would prevent him from working. Will the Taoiseach consider this issue? With all of the measures we have introduced, with the extra fines and people not being able to purchase their houses and so on, this is an extremely harsh measure in dealing with somebody of conscience, except that-----

Thank you, Deputy.

-----a majority of people are compliant with the property tax, albeit against their will, because of the high fines. If one likes, a whole swathe of people have been bludgeoned against their will, which I believe is probably the reason the Government is becoming one of the most unpopular of recent years.

Thank you.

These are the two issues. As I said, it was not my choice for Leaders' Questions-----

Thank you very much, Deputy. I call the Taoiseach to reply.

-----as I had other questions lined up, but I could not but-----

We are over time.

The Taoiseach might come back to me on that.

I thank Deputy Halligan for raising this personal issue with the man concerned and I commend Deputies Barry Cowen and Clare Daly on having discussed his circumstances with him. I was just made aware of this before I came into the Chamber. From what Deputy Halligan said, and I do not know the individual or the circumstances involved, it is principally an issue with the property tax.

It is unfair.

The legislation is very clear in respect of property tax being paid and a contribution being made by every person, but it also clearly includes the opportunity for a deferral of the payment of the tax. I do not know the man's circumstances in that regard.

The right of protest is perfectly legitimate in this country.

Thanks be to God.

I meet various elements of it around the place all the time, including in Waterford yesterday. The point is that nobody wants to see something like this happen, where an individual feels they must resort to a hunger strike.

In respect of the second issue raised by the Deputy about jobseeker's benefit, I know from reports from the Minister for Social Protection that very substantial numbers are receiving jobseeker's benefit who were self-employed.

Very few.

I do not know the actual financial circumstances of the individual involved here. Clearly, this is a matter we can have examined. I do not know whether Deputy Cowen or Deputy Daly have an up-to-date set of facts about Mr. Rochford's financial circumstances but, from what Deputy Halligan has said, first, he is entitled as a citizen to a deferral of his property tax, depending on his circumstances, and he would be entitled to have that examined. Second, as I can certify to the Deputy, there are very substantial numbers who receive jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance who were self-employed and might have lost their job, got work again and lost it again, as, unfortunately, happened to so many thousands during the course of the economic crisis. I would hate to think that a citizen of our country would be outside the gates of the Houses of Parliament in a situation where he is on hunger strike and where we cannot deal with the circumstances. We need to know what those circumstances are and I would be very happy to have them examined.

Will the Taoiseach meet him?

I do not have any difficulty at all meeting Mr. Rochford but I need to know what the circumstances are so the Minister for Social Protection, the Minister for Finance and the Revenue Commissioners can deal with this question of the property tax. As I said, I do not know his circumstances but I am willing to find out and, hopefully, have the matter resolved to some extent.

I thank the Taoiseach for his compassionate reply. This is inevitable under the present economic circumstances, with the hardship that hundreds of thousands of people are feeling. My worry is, as it has always been, and I have spoken about this in regard to many issues at public meetings, that somebody might go to the end because they are at the end of their tether with regard to how they are being treated and dealt with - people on unemployment benefit, people on disability and people without mobility. This is my worry. Many of us in this Chamber would not wish that to be the case and, as I said, a number of Deputies met this man and urged him not to do this, and it is not what I would want him to do. However, the harsh reality of everyday life in Ireland today is that people have come to the bridge and they are at the end of their tether. I believe it is inevitable that, if this ongoing economic crisis continues, where we continue to allow almost 700,000 people to live in poverty and abandon half the population-----

Thank you.

-----something serious will happen and we will all be responsible for it. I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I believe he said he would be prepared to meet him. He is quite a nice guy. I think he has made a principled stand and, while I do not agree with it and think it is not the way to do it, he has two very good issues. By the way-----

Thank you, Deputy.

-----I am looking at Deputies shaking their heads because many of us know it is not the case that it is easy for many people who were self-employed to go onto unemployment benefit.

Sorry, Deputy, you are over time. Will you please co-operate with the Chair?

That is not the case. The Taoiseach can ask across his own party and they will tell him the truth. It is not the case. It is almost impossible for the self-employed to get it when they become unemployed.

It is not true to say that former construction workers or those engaged in the construction sector in general have been completely ignored.

They have been.

As the Deputy is aware, the situation was that over 7,000 jobs a month were being lost for nearly three years, most of them from the construction sector. At least 100,000 people have had direct contact with the Department of Social Protection in one form or another and many of those were involved in the construction sector. One of the changes that was made concerned the age-old problem we always had in this country, where a construction worker lost a job and it used to take six to eight weeks to get back on unemployment assistance or unemployment benefit. That has all been changed and if a former construction worker now gets a job for, say, three weeks, five weeks or ten weeks, the payment is just suspended and renewed when the work ceases.

It is also a fact that the level of social welfare payment and remuneration in this country actually reduces the risk of poverty by up to 60%, which is by far the highest of any of the European Union countries. Having spoken to some of the people of Spain, Portugal and Greece recently, I know there is no social welfare at all there after a two-year period. Whatever state we have been in here in Ireland, at least the level of assistance reduces the risk of poverty by up to 60%.

Thank you.

I note the confidence that is beginning to return is evident in the fact that 2,000 jobs a month are now being created and there were 16,000 individual start-ups last year. We need to build on that. Clearly, we are not at the level where we need to be, but it is heading in the right direction. I noted this morning reports from a number of organisations that business sees confidence beginning to return. Obviously, there is quite a distance to go and there are implications in terms of the challenges that other European countries face - for example, we see the difficulties that arose temporarily in Portugal last week and other countries in programmes are being challenged.

In respect of the Deputy's question about the man outside-----

His name is Tony Rochford.

-----I will certainly be willing to have his circumstances checked. Hopefully, we can at least have this explained in a way that the man does not have to be on hunger strike outside the gates of the Irish Parliament.

Will the Taoiseach meet him before it is too late?