Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The purpose of the amendment is to take into account the fact that people are parenting on their own by relaxing the requirement, in regard to jobseeker's payments, that the claimant be genuinely seeking work to take into account the fact that people have child care commitments and to allow them to satisfy that commitment. I do not make any apology for insisting that the system, not just for a lone parents but everybody, move from being passive. People went on social welfare and were left there. There were never asked to attend an interview or find out what the Department of Social Protection could do for them. To some extent they were parked, and there was a lot of money to do that. However, many people get enormous satisfaction, personal, family and community esteem and ambition for their children by being able to take part in education, training, work experience and working for a living wage. That is the system to which we are changing.

The Deputy's suggestion is that it is very harsh. I do not think he is suggesting that entirely, because he said he welcomes people going back to work. As a society we have to build a child care system to reflect the kind of systems we would like to see. We have to move away from a completely passive social welfare system to one that will encourage people to work. As the Deputy said, more than 60% of lone parents do not work.

He asked if lone parents will be subject to the activation process. The answer is yes. Equally, there is a requirement for the public service, including my Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to ensure work is available to those on the live register. Lone parents are a tremendous resource for the country. We have to see that resource released, primarily for the people, their families and their communities, but also for the whole of Irish society.

Social welfare is moving from being an income cushion to support people at different stages of their lives and in different conditions and circumstances to being a springboard or a trampoline to get people to where they want to be. That is how we will build a kind of welfare state that will be supportive of people, particularly those of working age. We envisage that such people would be participants from the time they finish their general education until they eventually retire. Given that life expectancy is increasing for most people, that is a relatively long period.

I understand that the change we are making in the social welfare system is probably difficult for many people, but everyone who has come to Ireland from almost every country around the world and looked at our social welfare system is shocked and surprised at how passive it is. Other countries do not have the same level of passivity that our social welfare system has. Why, during the boom when a lot of employment was available, did the number of jobless families almost double, from below 10% to 15%? Nobody has explained that to me. Why, during the boom, did the number of people on various types of illness payment, in a population which is relatively healthy, climb to the astonishing figure of 16%? We have to ask ourselves these larger questions because it is those at work who, through their taxes and social insurance payments, pay for the system.

Equally, we know most individuals and families would be better off if adults could participate in the kind of work they are interested in doing and for which they would be paid a living wage. It is increasingly the case that employers are employing people for relatively few hours and people are relying on the social welfare system for the balance of their income. Many changes are taking place in the world of work. In the second half of last year Ireland experienced the first increase in the number of people in work since the crash. That is a small sign, and it is nothing like the level I would like to see, which is why I have talked about investment and stimulus programmes, but it is important that we work on every element of this. That is why the approach will be to move to an active social welfare system with support and expectations, whereby the Department of Social Protection, in conjunction with the Departments of Education and Skills and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, will help people to get into education and training and back to work.

Equally, people will be expected to make an effort to do so. It is a system of mutual obligations to which people who are in work and paying taxes are contributing. Most people are happy to pay PRSI, with the conditionality that it goes to those who require it and recipients are encouraged to be active and become financially independent.

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