Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Figures on the percentage of the population at risk of poverty for 2017 and 2018 are not yet available. We have already received the report from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in respect of the 2017 figures for lone parents, which have increased significantly on what they were in 2017. The income disregard for lone parents is welcome but according to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul report, we have an awful long way to go.

The youth employment rate for 2017 was 16.8%. This year, it is expected to be 14.3%. In 2016, the rate of long-term unemployment was 4.3%. It is currently 2.1%. There has been no real progress in this area.

Page 176 refers to the number of Magdalen commission customers in payment. The Department needs to be a little more sensitive in regard to Magdalen survivors. They should perhaps be recorded as Magdalen survivors rather than Magdalen customers, which sounds very clinical.