Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The figure today - 1.9 million people at work - is a great achievement for the economy. I know enough people in the Deputy's constituency to know that there are many people in that area going back to work. They may not all go to the Deputy and tell her they are going back to work. However, the figures show they are. That is something we should all celebrate.

This leads me to make a certain comment on people parenting on their own. This is the challenge for all of us - as Deputies, the Minister and the Department. We have had allowances for single women in Ireland going back over a long period of time. It was Frank Cluskey, who became leader of the Labour Party, who introduced them in the early 1970s. This was revolutionary in its day. There were many single daughters, particularly on farms, who had no income at all. The Labour Party did this. It was called the unmarried mother's allowance at the time. Prisoners' wives - who would have been parenting on their own - and the now quaintly named deserted wives got payments.

The State and all of the political parties supported this. The State therefore has, compared with other countries, a very high level of support for lone parents. I know countries that the Deputy admires such as Greece give almost no support in these situations. However, we should look at the long-range figures on how families get employment. The biggest predictor of the problem has been identified. It is very good if a family has a social welfare income support.

It is good that we have a strong social welfare base. However, children in a family do better if a parent or the parents in the family get employment. I have been involved in community work for a very long period of time. My experience is that in terms of high level, middle level and low level jobs available in Ireland - which are becoming available in increasing numbers - the best route back to well paid, secure, sustainable employment is to get further education, qualifications and training. Deputy O'Dea and Deputy Ó Snodaigh reference people parenting on their own. In countries with strong social welfare systems - particularly Nordic and middle European countries such as Germany, Austria and Holland - the support system encourages parents, particularly parents parenting on their own, to take up training, education and work experience opportunities as a way to getting good jobs. That is my policy.

Deputy O'Dea questioned the change to seven years of age. There is international evidence on this. I also know this from my own personal knowledge and experience of people parenting on their own. It is a hard struggle to raise children on one's own, regardless of income. The aim is to get people back into education. Setting the age at seven years and having a transition to the lone parent's transitional payment is designed to encourage people back into education. If a person can get a job which they want immediately, so much the better. However, it is the transition into education, training and work experience that helps people get a better paid job. All the evidence shows that it improves the opportunities and life chances for their children. In many Scandinavian countries where there are very strong supports the return to education age is when the child is one years old.

I looked at the models in countries such as the UK and Northern Ireland. Our welfare payments are much higher than the payments in the UK and Northern Ireland. However, they have a back-to-education structure and they use the age of seven. The evidence is that a child is well settled in school at that stage. A child will have completed a pre-school year and the junior and senior infant's years. By the time we are asking parents to transition, their youngest child should be well settled in school. As the Deputies know themselves, it is at the point the child is well settled into school that a person has an opportunity to look at doing some other things, whether in a two parent or in one parent household.

I know there is a difference in views. Perhaps we agree on the objective - we want to see lone parents having an opportunity going back to work. However, having access to education is the key to getting well paid work. That is very important.

With regard to the data on jobless households, a lot of such households are headed by people who are parenting on their own. That is why I introduced these reforms as a way of helping lone parents primarily to get back into education. Such parents may have been parenting on their own for seven years if they have just one child, or perhaps double or triple that time if they have more than one child.

I have worked in this area and it is a big confidence issue to have been in a domestic situation, notwithstanding how hard people work, and re-enter the world of work. Usually the easiest path is to go through education, training and community support. The Department supports 1,000 community employment schemes around the country. As members of the committee know, they are a great gateway back into work and obtaining qualifications in a range of areas.

I agree with Deputy Ó Snodaigh about the Social Welfare Consolidation Bill. We will be able to send him and other Deputies an email copy of that. As I said, however, regarding bells and whistles, we have to wait until we get a little bit better off as a country.

Budget information and debate are important issues in terms of Dáil reform. I have always made myself available to this committee for fairly lengthy discussions. The Department of Social Protection consults with a wide range of voluntary and community groups. We hold several individual and group sessions throughout the year. We also have a significant number of stakeholder forums within the Department. On any major change we invite all the organisations that are either specifically assisting groups of people or advocating for them.

On 4 July, the day on which I was elected Leader of the Labour Party, I started early that morning on a pre-budget forum with about 40 advocate groups. They strongly informed the decisions I took concerning social welfare budget changes. First, for instance, older people in particular wanted no changes to the weekly rate. That request came from all groups across the board. Second, they also wanted assurances on security for the free travel pass. Third, the next biggest demand was the restoration in whole or in part of the Christmas bonus. That is exactly what I did in the budget, so the pre-budget discussion has been incredibly important. I agree with Deputy Ó Snodaigh that there should be an opportunity for more detailed discussions and that is something that we can perhaps progress.