Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Again, I appreciate very much the intention of the amendment and also the Chairman's comments. Clearly, he would be aware of that in light of the fact that as the Minister who is both the sponsor of the scheme and now the Bill, with a focus on those who have the least resources or are in situations where they require a significant amount of support in terms of child care - lone parents being one of the clearest examples of that - there is a need to provide them with the maximum support possible to ensure they get back to work or training. I appreciate the intention of the amendment.

The Bill, as the Chairman said, gives the Minister the power to make regulations specifying definitions of "work" and "study". I will be defining "work". It will include within the definition not only employment and self-employment but also State-sponsored labour market activation programmes, in which lone parents would no doubt be participating in many instances. I expect that any lone parent taking part in an Intreo employment activation scheme who is eligible for financial support will be awarded the maximum of up to 40 hours of support. In addition, given their expected income level, a lone parent on such a scheme typically would be awarded the highest rate of subsidy per hour. My initial point is that they will more than likely receive the highest level of subsidy and support during that period of time.

I appreciate the intention of the question. I could also indicate, as we may get to in some of the other amendments, that within the Bill we would be reviewing the operations of the scheme after a certain period of time. This may be one to which it might be helpful to bring a focus.