Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 6, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “Report on extending availability of full Parent’s Benefit to Lone Parents

8.The Minister shall prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas on extending the availability of the full duration of Parent’s Benefit to lone parents to examine the effect that enabling all children to equally avail of the full duration of this Benefit would have and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection within 9 months of the enactment of this Act.”.

I have a series of amendments. The nature of this type of legislation, and the provisions regarding a charge on the Exchequer, means that I cannot move quite the amendments I would have liked. We tabled an amendment regarding the right to retire at 65 years of age but that was ruled out of order.

Amendment No. 2 relates to full parent's benefit for lone parents and seeks a report on extending the benefit's availability. There is an assumption in this and previous legislation that families are two-parent families. That is obviously not always the case and much of social protection policy, in other ways, is framed on the basis of that. One-parent organisations have asked that a one-parent family would get the entire 14 weeks of parental leave, increasing to 18 weeks in 2024. When it comes to a new baby, whether it is born into a family with two parents or one, it is the baby that should be the focus. Babies should not lose out on the additional supports and time spent with their parent at home. I ask the Minister to consider that. The one-parent organisations have been raising this issue for some time. We seek through this amendment a report on extending the availability of full parent's benefit to lone parents.