Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I am supportive of the sentiments expressed in these amendments. Whether the timeframe is three or six months there is an obligation on the Minister to bring forward his ideas on this area because, unwittingly, through his creative thinking out loud in the past, he has caused concerns for lone parents and, more particularly, organisations that seek to represent the interests of lone parents. Some of that was thought to be delivered in this budget but for various reasons it has not been given the priority talked about in the past.

The Minister could use this opportunity of presenting a report in three or six months to give clarity on the general debate he sought to initiate in recent months on whether lone parents should be encouraged to come out of poverty through achieving employment and the way that conflicts with their role of caring for their children. It is an element of workfare that could be introduced. On those grounds I would like to be more certain of the Minister's attitudes. Perhaps he will be more accommodating towards thinking that any of these three amendments are worth considering in the context of making such a report to the House in the coming months.

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