David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 5, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:

"1.—The Minister for Social and Family Affairs shall, within 3 months of the commencement of this Act, lay before each House of the Oireachtas, a report on the progress to date in replacing the One Parent Family Payment with the new parental allowance for all low income families.".

This is another issue the Minister has raised on a number of occasions. We had a meeting in Farmleigh and I went myself to hear what people had to say. It involves the cohabitation rule and the need to offer one-parent families more support and assistance. What is the situation here? When does the Minister expect the Department to take action on the issue? There is broad agreement across the House that something must be done about this.

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