Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

It has looked after the disadvantaged. I am strongly committed to social inclusion and I am following in the footsteps of my colleague, former Deputy Chris Flood, who I succeeded in the Dáil three years ago. Chris Flood did a tremendous amount of work on social inclusion not only in Tallaght and Dublin South West but throughout the country. I am glad the Minister has been very understanding when dealing with social inclusion. I am glad to have Deputy Durkan's support in that regard.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs, under the chairmanship of Deputy Penrose, whose work I compliment, has considered many of the issues which would be raised in any debate on social and family affairs.

I have received correspondence recently from a number of constituents who are particularly interested in carers, their needs and concerns — this is an issue that will have crossed the Minister's desk on a number of occasions. Members will know the Carer's Association of Ireland is based near Tallaght in Clondalkin and I have always gone out of my way to support carers, as we all should. I have often made the point that I had experience in this area when my late father was unwell and ageing. My sister looked after him, raising issues and challenges in respect of carers. I have also had much contact with other families in a similar situation.

Many people want the Minister to re-examine the issue of carers. In the context of this year's budget statement, I believe the Minister will consider all the issues of concern to all of us and the interests of carers will be looked after.

It is no secret that the political issue these days is child care. I have attended a number of hearings organised by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. There is an issue about where child care should sit as far as the Government's responsibility is concerned. It spans the justice, health, education and social and family affairs areas. It is interesting to listen to the debate on this issue and I have already praised last week's "Prime Time" programme which organised an interesting debate between those who strongly believe assistance should be given to those want to go out to work and those who want to stay at home. I wish the Minister for Finance and his colleagues well as they grapple with that issue.

Child care falls under the remit of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs in that it is important to remember disadvantaged families, including lone parent families, who do not have the means to access child care. The Minister is considering the whole question of benefits for lone parents. We must try to create a positive situation whereby we can help them out of the poverty trap and back to work. Each week young people tell me they want to go back to work and have an opportunity of employment but for one reason or another find it difficult to do so because straightaway their rent subsidy and other benefits are affected. Good child care must be provided to enable them to go back to work. We should make a commitment to helping those families caught in that trap and who genuinely want to progress.

I am always impressed by young people who are single parents and who genuinely want to provide for their child, do the best for their family and go back to work. We all know there are problems as far as benefits are concerned. While some efforts have been made, there should be a sliding scale so that we encourage people to return to work and create an environment to enable them to do so. It is not only an issue in Dublin South West but throughout the country. The Minister would have all-party support when dealing with it, as he would when dealing with care.

Deputy Durkan copped a headline this morning which is good but we are all entitled to make political points and, as I keep saying, there will be many of them over the next 600 days. Good things are being done and we should be brave enough to acknowledge that. The Minister understands there are issues of concern to colleagues on both sides that we want him to tackle. I am glad he is listening and I am confident about what he will do in the immediate aftermath of the budget, as I was last year. He will have much support in that regard.

This week, the Minister stated that the blight of child poverty must be eliminated. He will receive much support in that regard. While I do not want to paint a negative picture about any estate in Tallaght, some are disadvantaged. In west Tallaght, there are estates where special attention must be paid to the issues concerning many families. Last week, I visited the junior school An Chroí Ró Naofa in Killinarden which is involved in the Early Start programme. While these matters relate to the Department of Education and Science, there is no question but that we should be helping those families who have particular difficulties and challenges.

The word "challenge" often comes up in my contribution because the whole question of the delivery of social and family provision is about dealing with challenges. People will always have different views and priorities on this. However, many children do not have the same opportunities as others in education. We must see how to deal with the poverty issues in this area. Every child must have an opportunity of having a normal life and of having a proper breakfast in the morning before going to school. The Early Start programme in Killinarden, and elsewhere, provides that environment. It is amazing when speaking to the children involved, victims of poverty, who are being helped. I pay tribute to the educationalists and others involved in these schemes.

It is important for the Minister to understand that in Ireland of the 21st century, where many of us have been fortunate enough to reap the benefits of living in a country that has witnessed great surges in economic growth in recent years, there are still problems in that regard. The Minister will receive much support if he deals with these issues. While he has been busy throughout the year, the Minister will have several challenging weeks ahead as he deals with the Estimates. I hope he will bring forward some of the radical proposals he has already signalled. I look forward to the Minister's announcements after the budget. I hope he will put flesh on some of the policies he has talked about in dealing with social welfare issues.

The Minister's proposals on pensions are of interest to everyone. We are looking at the experiences in Britain and elsewhere where there is much debate about future pensions. The Minister was right and brave to raise this issue. He is certainly far-sighted in looking down the road at a time when we will all have passed on and where future generations will have particular challenges with pension provision.

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