Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I do not have a date for when I will come back on this matter. We have an enormously ambitious programme of reform under way in the Department. This includes the absorption of 1,000 community welfare officers and 700 former FÁS employees, as well as the business method changes referred to in earlier answers. I will not commit to a date for this change. It is an important area for trying to get the economic balance right, where the objective is to have as many people as possible in significant amounts of work, so that dependence on social welfare is lessened. I am aware of the 80,000 people working part-time. Up to a half of them would be interested in much more work and full-time work. For others, part-time work fits quite well with family responsibilities, including child care and elder care. We must have a nuanced response to the different types of people in the labour market and their different needs.

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