Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We should think about putting more of the resources into services. That is why, for instance, in this budget I am increasing funding for the provision of hot school meals and for the special initiatives for children in disadvantaged areas. Deputy Murphy, to some extent, is not looking at the question of how to ensure we have a strong social welfare system that is not simply strong in terms of income transfers. All of the European statistics show that it is exceptionally strong in that regard and even rich European countries do not, in many cases, have the level of transfers that we have. Instead, what they have is a much more active social welfare system that encourages people back to work.

I said already that we have ten offices now operating the new system of social welfare. These are not pilots but are the first wave of the transformation of the Department of Social Protection from being a passive Department that simply pays money to people who unfortunately have lost their jobs or who, for other reasons, are getting a social welfare income, to an active Department that not only pays people an income but also enters into a contract with them - a contract between the individual and the Department on behalf of our citizens and taxpayers - that the Department will give the individual and his or her family their entitlements in the form of income supports but will also oblige the person, particularly as his or her children grow up and attend school, to get back into education and training and back to work. That combination is a win for the family and a win for Irish society and taxpayers.

There are approximately 96,000 lone-parent families in Ireland. Think of all of the talent and energy that could be harnessed by my Department by helping those families get back into education and work and back to financial independence. Deputies know that the families and individuals who get back into employment and regain their financial independence are the winners. If one talks to women in their fifties or sixties who have been parenting on their own they will say that getting a good job was the best step they took. If, however, a woman in her twenties or early thirties who is looking after a baby on her own delays taking that step for a long time and delays updating her education, training and qualifications for ten or 20 years, it is quite hard for her to make up the gap in terms of getting a reasonable job and becoming financially independent. I make no apologies for saying that this is a reform-----

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