Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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It was hard to listen to all of the opening statements without feeling sickened or furious. Some 90,000 children in Ireland live inconsistent parity. The committee has discussed this issue for several weeks, but it has been a consistent issue for generations. To a certain extent, we know what many of the issues and solutions are, and we have done for some time. We have to face up to the failure of the State to address the systematic issues that permit that kind of child poverty to continue.

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee today and sharing their valuable insights with us. I have a few questions for the St. Vincent de Paul. In its recent pre-budget submission, it highlighted in-work poverty among one-parent families and recommended the removal of the cliff edge for working lone parents by extending the cut-off for jobseeker's transition payments until the youngest child reaches the end of second level education. Could the witnesses describe the difference a measure like that would make?

That document stressed the importance of closing the gap between social welfare rates and the real costs facing households. Could the witnesses elaborate on the importance of benchmarking social welfare payments to an adequate income? The St. Vincent de Paul discussed the role of income inadequacy of a core driver of poverty in one-parent families. It highlighted the importance of benchmarking social welfare rates against the minimum essential standard cost of living. If the witnesses could elaborate on that for the committee, it would be very helpful.

The St. Vincent de Paul provides particular insight into the importance of tailoring employment and training supports in enabling lone parents to increase their working hours and gives example of what measures it has in mind. On that kind of furious and sickened note, do any of the other witnesses want to comment?

Even with all of those changes and the different things we could do a terms of budgets and social welfare payments, without State provision of childcare, is it possible to reduce the gap in terms of one-parent families being six times more likely to experience poverty to that extent? Without childcare provision for one-parent families that is accessible and free will we ever get rid of that? My mother was a single parent and went out to milk the cows every day. It is an almost impossible task to go to work when people have children and cannot afford childcare. Without childcare provision, will all of the other measures bring one-parent families to the same level as two-parent families?