Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What is frightening about the Taoiseach's response is the ignorance it displays in so far as he does not appear to understand the issue. The issue is not a reduction of a payment but the elimination on 2 July of the one-parent family payment when children reach seven years. Does the Taoiseach understand that this is what is happening? I cannot understand how he can credibly come into the House without realising what his Government and Minister with responsibility for welfare are doing. It is a scandal.

The Taoiseach referred to the idea of expectation. As a politician, I have worked with lone parents for many years. The measures introduced in the late 1990s were progressive and there was a progressivity as time evolved in terms of moving into work. It is insulting to lone parents to state there is an expectation that they will be welfare dependent for the rest of their lives simply because they qualify for the one-parent family payment. That is an insult which reflects a mindset and policy orientation that are as Thatcherite as one could get.

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