Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I have some brief questions. One of the items we are dealing with is lone parents allowance. The Minister has said, and I agree with her, that her objective is an active system where people are activated to go out to work, when the work is available, rather than staying at home and relying on welfare. One of the means by which savings have been got in regard to lone parents is the reduction in the income disregard. In other words, we are reducing the amount of money one can earn while still getting one's full lone parent allowance. Effectively, it means that because of the changes made, if somebody in receipt of lone parents allowance, which is means tested, goes out to work, they will now get less because the income disregard has fallen. I cannot understand how the prospect of getting less money than one was getting previously will encourage people to go out to work.

I note that €29.1 million has been saved as a result of the standardisation of the reduction in the maternity benefit payment. I note also that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, introduced tax on maternity benefit in the budget. Would the Minister have the figure for the projected yield from that change made by the Minister for Finance? In other words, would she know what is likely to be the tax collected in the year on maternity benefit?

We have had many discussions here, in which Deputy Butler among others has featured strongly, on the prospect of illness benefit and jobseeker's benefit, in other words, contribution-related payments for the self-employed. Where are we on that?