Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

His predecessor flew quite a few. We are on the same issues and the difficulty is we have no proposals.

I support the idea of people being facilitated to get back into the workforce and to get back into education and training. Of course that is important. I was concerned with the mandatory nature of I do not know what because it was discussion rather than a concrete proposal. The practicalities, particularly in some areas from a perspective of child care and transportation, of anything that would be mandatory is not a matter we will be able to tease out today but it is important that concrete proposals are put before us as soon as possible so this matter can be progressed. The cohabitation issue, in particular, is anti-family, is not reflective of the reality of life today and is causing significant difficulties for people. I have an open mind but I want to see definite proposals on which we can move forward.

I will press the amendment because it is important to highlight how crucial it is that we get to grips and deal with this.

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