Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I support the amendment. We all pay lip-service to children and families. However, regardless of the family or other circumstances in which they live, children expect to have a certain lifestyle. Peer pressure is an extremely important factor in children's lives. When we refer to such pressure, it usually brings to mind teenagers. However, peer pressure starts at a very young age. When they are first affected by it, some children probably do not know what the term "peer pressure" means or what it implies. As everyone is aware, Christmas is almost upon us. Let us consider the case of two four year olds in a crèche or preschool facility, one of whom has asked for a particular doll — and her buggy and various accessories — that has been advertised on television. What will be the position if she receives this present, while her counterpart, who also wants it, does not and receives a lesser present instead? There is nothing to indicate that children are not affected when they do not receive that for which they have been hoping.

I thought I might be sued if I made my next comment, but that cannot happen because I am speaking under Dáil privilege. Perhaps it was because it reminded me of my childhood, but I did not like Angela's Ashes. However, one aspect of the book struck me as profound, namely, the fact that children feel humiliation. It is not just adults or teenagers who are affected in this regard. When their parents are not financially secure enough to provide them with a comfortable home and the same supports to which certain of their peers have access, children feel humiliated, not just on their own behalf but also on behalf of their parents. That feeling of humiliation never leaves them. We should strive to eliminate feelings of inadequacy among particular children with regard to the financial position of their families. Certain youngsters feel that they are somehow lesser beings because Santa Claus did not give to them the toys other children received.

Child poverty is very obvious when one looks closely enough. A child living in poverty is one who does not have a coat, who attends the funeral of a grandparent but who is not dressed in a suit and tie, who cannot go on a school trip or who does not receive a bicycle when everyone else living on the road gets one. As adults, we have all passed the stage of feeling peer pressure and we now know what is truly important, namely, the support, encouragement and love one obtains from one's family. When we were children, however, we were of the view that material possessions, etc., were all important. We want to get rid of child poverty in order that every youngster can feel free to harbour the same ambitions as their peers.

It is not as if we came to a realisation about this matter following a sudden flash of blinding light. Those who carried out research into child poverty and indicated the remedies that might be used in respect of it were obliged to highlight the problem for us. We should strive to get rid of child poverty and, in that context, I wholeheartedly support the amendment.

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