John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the last couple of lines spoken by the Minister, if he is going to support this amendment. It is critical that we have a report because we do not need to wait to see the impact on lone parents and their families of the measures introduced. The Minister is correct - and he acknowledged the fact - that the reality is children in lone-parent families are at a higher poverty level of 22.1%, as opposed to 11% for children in two-parent families. That is nearly double the State average of child poverty levels. We do not need to wait to see the impact. We need a report. I welcome the Minister's support for this amendment. The Minister made reference to the report by Dr. Millar. It is interesting that there has been no formal response by the Minister to the Millar report. This does not surprise me because the Millar report lays on the table, in black and white, the impact of these changes on lone-parent families. It may not be the report the Minister wanted. It may not be the report he was hoping for or was expecting but it is a report that shows the impacts quite graphically and it makes a series of recommendations. The difficulties and the impacts of these changes on lone parents have been compounded in budget 2017. For some lone parents it is actually better for them to go back on to a jobseeker's payment, and I assure the Minister this is happening as we speak. Because of the changes in the budget, lone parents are looking at how much better off they are, either in employment or in receipt of the jobseeker's payment. Unfortunately the measures that have been introduced - and compounded in this budget - mean it is more financially rewarding for lone parents to stay on a jobseeker's payment. These are the realities. I welcome that the Minister is going to agree to the amendment, and I welcome the fact that he chose to throw into the mix a number of the other reports that the Department is going to look at such as the programme for Government commitment around the discriminatory payments for unemployed people who are under the age of 26. Last week I queried the Tánaiste on the whereabouts of that report, as it was committed to in the programme for Government. I welcome the fact that the report is coming, albeit a little bit late. I believe the report with regard to the discriminatory cuts in payments for the under-26s was committed to be delivered in the last quarter of this year. As the Minister brought these into the discussion here in the Chamber, and we probably will not have another opportunity, perhaps he could give members specific timeframes around the delivery of the reports, especially the report on the cuts in payments for those under 26. When exactly can we see that report? As with lone parents, people under 26 who are unemployed have not only been hit with cuts that are discriminatory, there are real hard-hitting consequences for young unemployed people as shown in figures provided by groups such as Focus Ireland which illustrate the increase in youth homelessness. Could the Minister provide clarity around those measures?