Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

They pertain to the transition from the current age limit of 14 years to seven years. There will be an immediate impact on new applicants who have children aged 12 or 13 years and from next year the measure will affect new applicants with children aged ten years or older. This change will directly affect lone parents' ability to access employment and education. While the Minister is trying to justify it as a labour activation measure designed to assist lone parents, it will in fact have the opposite effect, as her colleague pointed out when similar moves were made by the previous Government. Therefore, the quote is relevant to these specific amendments. Speaking when in opposition, the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, continued:

Just because a child is 13 does not mean he or she can look after himself or herself. Has the Government even considered the social consequences of this? There are huge implications for anti-social behaviour, drug abuse and, ironically, teenage pregnancy. Has the Minister really thought this through? It seems from his comments to date that very little thought has been given to the likely fall-out of his proposed changes ... it costs substantially more to raise a teenager than it does to raise a younger child.

The withdrawal of one parent family payment will in many cases create an additional barrier to school completion and to third level education. If the teenage children of lone parents realise that their parents are in far more strained financial circumstances under the Minister's new arrangements than they currently are, it will inevitably have a knock-on impact in terms of the ability of teenagers in poor lone parent families to remain in school. The pressure will undoubtedly grow on them to leave school early and try to find work. The pressures working against the possibility of them participating in third level education will be even greater.

Will the operational guidelines for the jobseekers allowance be amended to reflect that for some parents the cost of after school care will represent a poverty trap?

I could not put it better than that. I do not understand how the Labour Party could argue all of this in 2010 and now argue for precisely the opposite. The Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, believed at the time it would drive lone parents out of work and would act as a disincentive for them and their children to access education and employment. The Minister is trying to convince us that the same measures will actually assist people into education and employment. It does not add up. Therefore, one can only conclude it is a smokescreen.

The other big difference between our country and the other countries the Minister mentioned is that they do not have the same unemployment crisis we have. Where are these jobs? To put it simply, as of next week a new applicant for one-parent family payment with a child of 12 or 13 years of age will not be eligible and will be refused. What is such a person to do? Earlier I asked the Minister a question that she did not answer. I believe she said yesterday that such a person should apply for jobseeker's allowance. However, a person, who is minding his or her children and, therefore, not available for work would not be entitled to jobseeker's allowance. How can somebody, who is not available for work, be entitled to jobseeker's allowance without lying and claiming he or she is available when he or she is not? That will be true for new applicants from January 2013 if their children are aged ten or older. It continues until the age limit of seven is reached.

As of next week lone parents with children aged 12 or 13 will be disadvantaged. The Minister cannot tell me that by next week this beautiful vision of child care support and education support, to which we would all subscribe, will be in place. That is preposterous. I ask the Minister to tell the truth. It has nothing to do with Leon Trotsky or jibes about Killiney and the north side and all the rest of it. That is demeaning.

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