Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The sentiment of this debate is such that one would say there was abject property among lone parent families. I do not believe there is anybody in this House who would want to see children subject to abject poverty where we could do anything about it. We are coming to the end of a period of austerity and moving towards an era of prosperity, to which we all aspire. Two things with which I must confess to being obsessed as a politician are the creation of jobs and child care. As a society, Ireland is a complete outlier. As one of the few Members in this House who has lived in and experienced Scandinavia, I am a complete supporter of Scandinavian society and its system of government.

I know the Tánaiste, Deputy Joan Burton, well. It would not be appropriate to suggest she has anything other than the highest respect and goodwill towards people who are struggling in society. She has made it quite clear to the people in the party and the Government who have asked about this issue that she is trying to tackle the fact we are outliers in terms of the numbers of people who receive one-parent family payment but have less income as a result of their inability to find work. She is trying to ensure people will be able to go back to work if they can find work and will be able to get child care. The question concerns whether we are achieving both at the same time.

I want to put the following information from EUROSTAT, the European Commission and the OECD on the record. The main issue in social policy is the problem of low work intensity households. They have been cited as a factor that can lead to serious social exclusion, something we all want to get rid of. The figure of 23.9% is the highest in the EU and more than double the EU average of 10.85%. Some would say this has its roots in austerity but the rate was higher than the EU average before the crisis and surged from 14.3% in 2007 to 24.2% in 2011 before falling to 23.4% in 2012. In 2013, the number of children living in jobless households was also the highest in Europe at 17.7%. We need to tackle two things, one of which is the opportunity to find a job. We have decreased the number of people who are unemployed from over 15% to around 9%. We also need to provide people with child care. Based on what I have read regarding international best practice, there is a safeguard. Children under the age of seven will be considered differently from those older than that. The child must be five years of age under the UK system. Once again, the best system leans towards Sweden and Scandinavian models where child care costs no more than €140 per month for the first child and decreases thereafter.

I heard the Tánaiste speak about her aspirations to improve the situation in this country. I will impress upon her this evening and over the coming months that this budget should tackle child care and jobs in regions. What is happening in Dublin is a far cry from what is happening in other places. It is not as easy to get 15 hours of work or, if one has 15 hours, to increase them to 20 hours in areas outside Dublin as it is in the city. Some sense has been spoken on all sides of the House. The overall sentiment is something I appreciate and I know what Sinn Féin is trying to achieve in this motion. It goes back to the fact that people in low work intensity households have the highest chance of serious social exclusion. This affects the children more than it affects the parent. Any incentive that can be given to remove a disincentive is a help but there are other social factors, which is why it is not always about taxation and the simple payment of money. There are structures and societal issues that need to be addressed for people to be better off. Lone parents need to be catered for and there is much that society can do outside of funding. The person also needs to be given the opportunity to work.

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