Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending today. I apologise for my absence during the presentations. Men and women who have stayed at home to look after their children are one of the most common issues that Members face in constituency offices. When the kids are raised the parent might look to return to the workforce by reskilling or retraining, but find that there is absolutely nothing available because one of the partners is working and bringing in an income. It is a huge issue. I have seen people break down in my office as they feel there is no future for them, there is no help and nobody wants them to work. These are people who have done a service to the State in raising their children and bringing them to an age at which they have left the nest. The parent wants another chance to go back out working again and contributing to the community. We know that age discrimination does exist in the workforce. Whether we like it or not, it is there. For these people to have a hope of retraining, they need the State to step in. I believe there used to be Departments that would help in retraining and re-educating these people to go back into the workforce, but with the recession this assistance was taken away. As the economy grows and as things get better, we need to look at putting these services back in place. I have also been pushing this same issue for years for the self-employed - another concern that has just been pushed into a corner and forgotten about. We should definitely should look at this through social protection and start a new system for these people.