David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

Amendment No. 22 in my name endeavours to draw attention to the need to focus on one-parent families. There are more one-parent families now than ever before and in my constituency work, and that of colleagues, we find that more one-parent families are under unbelievable pressure. They are three and a half times more likely to be in poverty than two-parent families. Will the Minister tell us what the income disregard will do for thousands of lone parents who would like to return to education or work? Many lone parents have major housing needs also in that they are paying exorbitant rents of €700 or €800 per month. There is not much left after paying that amount. Many lone parents depend on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other charities to keep going from week to week, and their situation is getting worse. The Minister should carry out an in-depth study of the needs of one-parent families because it is a serious issue. I understand the proportion of lone-parent families is ten times that of two-parent families with the same need.

The welfare to work transition is very difficult for one-parent families because they have children to mind, take to school and so on. That is a major issue. If they get increases in welfare such as those proposed here, they might lose their medical card. That is another problem they must face. One size does not fit all in terms of the child care infrastructure. Lone parents have particular needs because there is no one available to look after their children. They are on their own and if they want to return to work or education, they are faced with the major obstacle of getting somebody to mind their child. Paying for that is a major issue also.

The recent CSO study indicated that 48% of lone parents were at risk of poverty in 2004. I encourage and support the Minister in bringing forward a more family friendly child payment for one-parent families. I agree with what the Minister said in the past about our code encouraging parents to live apart. It goes back to what the Minister said earlier about the living alone allowance, paying people to live alone. The same applies here where fathers are often seen sneaking back home at night to stay with their families, with neighbours reporting that he is visiting his partner and children, and the payment is then at risk, with all the stress and strain that involves. There is a huge area of work to be grappled in that regard. The Minister has been saying for some time that he intends to do something about it. I know he is genuine about that but time is getting short. The Minister has done a certain amount of work in this area and I encourage him to see what else can be done.

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