Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I support the amendment. There are many bottlenecks in the journey from welfare to work. Deputy Shortall referred briefly to one of the major issues in this regard, namely, child care. One parent families are often extremely isolated and the fact that they do not have the support of the extended family structure that might apply in the case of other people makes their burden even heavier. I wish the Government would tackle the bottlenecks to which I refer in order to facilitate people in completing the journey from welfare to work. It would be better for society, in a host of ways, if the people in question could complete the journey to which I refer. Very many of these individuals want to do so. It is a pity they are being allowed to fulfil their ambition.

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