Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Employment alone will not necessarily lift one-parent families or their children out of poverty. According to NERA, in the past 15 years there has been a gradual increase in the proportion of workers classified as being low paid in Ireland. For many one-parent families, the only jobs available are low paid and precarious ones. Other measures are required. I draw the Minister's attention to the fact that we now have more than 2,000 children growing up in direct provision. It is akin to State-sanctioned poverty. They get €9.60 a week; their parents get €19.10. We have been giving out about this for a long time but, sadly, it seems that it is still as bad as it was. When will something different happen? No one in the place would try to defend the direct provision system. It reminds me a bit of Guantanamo, which Obama threatened to close seven years ago but which is still open.

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