Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

With regard to one-parent families, the critical thing is to provide a supportive framework for parents to get back to work in the way that happens in the North when the youngest child is well settled in school. That is why the age of seven years was selected. It is what applies in the North and in the UK. In Scandinavian countries, the age is lower. If the Deputy does not have a problem with it in the North, I wonder why he has a problem with parents in one-parent families being enabled and encouraged to return to work. The most significant way for younger lone parents to get back to work is to take up educational opportunities. The Department of Social Protection provides a varied and extensive range of back to education courses on offer in PLCs, colleges and universities throughout the country. The best way of reducing poverty levels is to ensure the lone parent has an opportunity to take up work. That is the best way of significantly increasing someone's income and providing for their financial security.

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