Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

This would be laughable if it was not so serious. I will outline a list of the cuts the Tánaiste has introduced that would primarily fall on women. The cuts to child benefit mainly hit women. It has been cut by €10 to €130 for the first and second child and by €18 for the third child and subsequent children so a large family will be hit even more. The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance has been cut. There have been rent allowance cuts and we know it is primarily single women who are facing homelessness. The fuel allowance has been cut from 32 to 27 weeks. Maternity pay has been cut.

Single-parent organisations and all in this House have told the Tánaiste that one-parent family cuts are hitting women. Some 90% of lone parents are women and 34% of births are to single mothers. Therefore a huge impact falls on women from these cuts which the Tánaiste has started and which she is talking about continuing. One-parent families headed by women are twice as likely to be in poverty. How can the Tánaiste possibly argue that these cuts will not further increase the feminisation of poverty, which has accelerated under this Government?

I ask the Tánaiste to keep her remarks to the social welfare cuts about which I asked rather than talking about the impact of the recent budget on couples.

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