Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Again, I urge the Deputy, if she believes this has had a negative effect on lone parents whom she knows and caused a risk to their housing situation, to encourage those people to go to the community welfare service, where a protocol is in operation to assist them. This service has already assisted approximately 2,000 families on a one-to-one basis.

In regard to the changes in social welfare, as we are getting people back to work - we have got the unemployment rate down from 15.2% to 9.85% - the key to achieving this has been the Intreo office, which is a friendly place where people get income support and advice and can avail of support services. As a consequence, many people, including young people who might have felt they would never find work, have been assisted. I attended a graduation ceremony recently of young people involved in work. The key to success in this is one-to-one engagement. Therefore, I encourage the Deputy to ask some of the people affected to consider calling into the Intreo office and talking to an employment officer so we can see whether we can improve their situation, particularly their housing situation.

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