Mr. Damien Peelo:

Thank you, Chair. Treoir welcomes the opportunity to address the joint committee on gender equality. Treoir works with our members to improve the lives of parents who are not married to each other, and the lives of their children. We acknowledge the work of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality, and we welcome all the recommendations in its report.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted existing issues to do with the provision of key public services, of which access to decent and affordable childcare and early childhood development and education is one. For example, a survey by the National Women’s Council on women’s experiences of care found that lone parents felt particularly under pressure to look after children, provide home-schooling, and work to financially support their families, all without the usual support networks. When asked about employment and income, 42% of parents said their major concern was childcare, followed by loss of income.

The Government response to the pandemic showed that if the State wishes to, it can provide a service on a mass scale. It has the means and the ability to do so. Over the past 12 months, the Government has made significant investment in early childhood and education care and the national childcare scheme. While we acknowledge this, it does not address the foundational problems within the system. For example, the ECEC is limited and based on access to care as an entitlement but with very limited hours. The national childcare scheme is designed as a labour activation measure and allocates childcare hours based on a mother’s links to the labour market. It is not based on need. The State’s reliance on private operators to deliver the service, while at the same time starving the community childcare sector of much-needed resources, is hugely problematic. Today, childcare in Ireland is market-driven, privatised and for profit. Provision is patchy and can vary greatly in terms of access and quality, depending on where you live.

Treoir campaigns for and supports a publicly-funded and universally accessible model of early childhood and childcare and puts the well-being of children at its core. We believe early childhood education and development should be deemed a key public service and it should be a right for all children. At societal and political levels, it should be seen as an opportunity to intervene in child poverty and to support lone parents. Such a model has the potential to address the structural inequalities reproduced from the care responsibilities imposed on women. In this context, Treoir supports the recommendations that Ireland move to a publicly-funded model of early years and out-of-hours childcare, that the State increases the share of GDP spent on childcare and introduces paid leave for parents for the first year of a child’s life, and that lone parents receive the same total leave as a couple.

Regarding social welfare, research has repeatedly shown that lone parents - 86% of whom are women - are more likely to experience one form or another of deprivation, to live in sub-standard rented accommodation, to be over represented in homeless accommodation and to be dependent on State transfers. Their life chances are severely impacted by the interconnectedness of care and the economy with the result that when employed, they will be in low paid precarious work characterised by poor working conditions and limited rights. Yet research from the ESRI suggests only full-time employment is effective in lifting families out of poverty. These findings are hugely problematic for lone parents who bear primary responsibility for care, and often cannot reconcile full-time work with the provision of that care.

The interplay of care, the economy, and the welfare system really comes to the fore when we look at the issue of social welfare entitlement and the rules which govern it. Treoir supports the citizens' assembly’s recommendation on social welfare and particularly that a fully individualised social protection system is introduced to promote the equal division of paid work and care. We agree payments should be set at a level that addresses poverty and supports an adequate standard of living, and that gender proofing is carried out in the piloting of a universal basic income scheme.

Changes to the one parent family payment since 2013 have had a negative impact on the well-being and life chances of lone parents, resulting in 30% of lone parents being at risk of poverty, compared with 12% of two-parent households. Treoir believes the social welfare system must recognise lone parents’ care responsibilities and must ensure that part-time work, combined with social welfare payments, provide economic security to one parent families.

We note the citizens' assembly’s call for the specific needs of lone parents to be addressed with regard to access to education. In this respect, Treoir is calling for the Student Universal Support Ireland grant scheme to be available for part-time, online, and blended learning and access courses.

In closing, Treoir welcomes the emphasis on the State as a key player with the ability to shape and change existing relationships via policy and legislation. We reiterate the importance of a welfare system decoupled from the labour market for the creation of more just and caring society. We note the citizens' assembly’s recognition that gender inequalities are intensified by discrimination on other grounds, and that men also suffer from inequality, lack of opportunity and discrimination. Article 18 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the child states that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing of children, and that the State should use its best efforts to ensure the recognition of this principle.

I thank members for their attention and we are happy to take any questions they may have.