Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 23:

In page 7, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:

8.—The Minister for Social and Family Affairs shall, within three months of the commencement of this Act, lay before the Houses 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.

I appreciate the Minister is going to come forward with concrete proposals, but so were his two predecessors. The reason I retabled this amendment is to ensure we see action in this area. There are several issues, cohabitation probably being one of the main ones. Equally important is the ability of people to work. The Minister published discussions or flew a kite — whatever way he would like to put it.

See this speech in context