Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I will move on to the one parent allowance. There is not a Member of this House who has not met a single parent. How can the Minister seriously expect a single parent, who for whatever reason is single and has one or two children, to go out to work? If such person refuses, will the Minister curtail or reduce his or her allowance? From my understanding of the provisions in this regard, that is what the Minister is going to do. How can the Minister do that?

I welcome the child care provisions in the Bill, with which I will deal later. How can the Minister expect single parents to go out to work? How can he justify reducing such person's allowance? Is that what the Minister is going to do?

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