Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly what we are looking for. It is just more information. Specific groups have been identified in both of the witnesses' presentations, namely, Travellers, lone parents and young people experiencing disadvantage. It is about being able to reach those groups. Both of my constituency offices are located close to the Intreo office. As it happens, I am the only TD in my area with a staffed office so we get a lot of people - tens of thousands - through our door. When you want to be able to help someone and signpost them to go to the right place, it is not always the Intreo office. There are a lot of people who feel very much outside of the mainstream and that is keeping them locked out of employment. What specific barriers can we address? We know for lone parents in particular there are issues around childcare. We are all still waiting for the Scandinavian model that was promised before the supports were slashed. It never arrived. For an awful lot of people, considerations like that are very tough.

Is there anything specifically that can and should be done that is not currently being done to target those groups such as lone parents, Travellers and young people experiencing disadvantage? If I get a chance to come in again, we can talk about underemployment, but for those groups, unemployment is a real and very serious issue. Is there a regional element specifically for those groups? Is it the case that if you are a lone parent living in the west, you are less likely to be employed or fully employed? How does that work? What is Ms Rogers's view on that? How can we target supports directly into those communities that need it most?