Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Yes. I think they were boggled by the amount of toys in the store. We all know that Santa is a generous man, but he too is finding it difficult to come up with all the presents children want this year. We are trying to address the issue of child poverty in so many ways, including through child benefit, family income supplement and other payments such as the back to school allowance, which we have just discussed, and through encouraging people back into employment and targeting the particularly vulnerable groups such as lone parents. I cannot say we will within any short timeframe come up with proposals in regard to the second tier. There is no consensus on the issue.

I would genuinely be interested in hearing from Members on this issue. Of all the groups at risk of poverty — there have been significant declines in respect of poverty rates for the elderly — children remain the most vulnerable because there is so little they can do for themselves. Children are dependant on everybody else. I would genuinely like to hear from Members their views on the second tier issue. While it is included in the programme for Government, the lack of consensus makes it difficult to address. I cannot accept the amendment.

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