Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be aware of the rates of poverty among lone parents. The deprivation rate is touching on 60%, which is alarming. The Minister will also be aware that an independent report commissioned by his Department and written by Drs. Crosse and Millar was particularly scathing about the changes made to the current system which the previous Minister stated should not be introduced in the absence of a Scandinavian-type child care system. She committed to not introducing the changes without such a system being in place, but she went ahead and introduced them anyway. As I understand it, all the amendment is seeking is a report. Naturally, I am sympathetically disposed to it because I have tabled an amendment that pretty much seeks the same thing, except that it looks for the report to be presented within three months. That would allow us to have meaningful discussions on the way forward for lone parents. Whatever it may be - we received various recommendations on the day the committee met Drs. Crosse and Millar - it is not the way we are proceeding. The Bill allows for an increase of €20 in the income a lone parent can earn without being affected. I welcome this, but nevertheless the problem remains and will not go away. All the flaws, failings and inequities that have manifested themselves in the current system are still there. The committee will return to this issue and make recommendations to the Minister. It would, therefore, be good if the Department were to examine it, particularly in the light of the Crosse-Millar report, and report back to the committee to inform our discussions.