Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed with the Minister of State's response. It was a single transferable speech. I have seen similar responses to parliamentary questions. It does not show any willingness to think outside the box on this issue, which is a significant impediment to a large cohort of women who have skills they acquired previously and who need to improve their skills, sharpen their presentation and so on in order to get back into the workforce. The Minister of State's response was like the dialogue of the deaf. I urge him to have a word with the Minister for Social Protection to see if we can at least get an acknowledgement that there is an issue in this respect. If we cannot have an acknowledge of that, we will not get a resolution.

The Minister of State's response raises an obvious question: what is the success rate of those who are availing of activation measures in transferring from labour market initiatives to the workplace proper? Obviously, if the system is not working - I suspect it is not, and that many people are pursuing course after course and are not successfully transferring to the workplace - that would be grounds for a review of the current regime. I would like to know the position in that respect. If people are not transferring successfully, there is a weakness in the policy approach that should be addressed.

The Constitution is often the last refuge in an argument, but it does contain pro-family provisions. For those women who opt out of the workplace to spend a number of years at home raising their families, surely there is a question, legally and constitutionally, about whether barriers to their re-entry into the workforce are in keeping with the Constitution. If this is the case, there may be an impediment in the future for women who wish to stay at home, if they are going to be treated in this way subsequently.

We need a gender perspective on participation in programmes, and we need to provide flexibility for local social welfare officers or employment service officers to use their discretion where people present seeking to participate in such programmes and avail of them in the same way as anybody else who receives social welfare payments. We must determine whether it would work financially for everybody, including the State, to allow such people to participate on an equal basis.

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