Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have certain sympathies with Deputy Mac Lochlainn's amendment. In a lot of cases, it may not be possible for the mother and father to be living together. There are teenage pregnancies where both parents could be living at home with their own parents, or the father of the child could be married to somebody else. There are difficulties. The woman could already be in receipt of the one-parent family allowance and not allowed to cohabit with her partner. It is very restrictive and does not take into account the diverse society in which we now live.