Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I was not aware of those statistics. I am distressed to hear that. I would be very committed to looking for ways to ensure that as they move on to different ways of providing public support the lone parents and their families get back what they may have lost through previous cuts. I have identified some of the ways to do that within the programme for Government.

The child care places are a concern of mine. The way to move forward and correct that is to look across the board, particularly at after-school places. Are they in the appropriate locations? Are they available for women and men who as single parents have specific needs for their children because of their working arrangements? I think this is why some of the schemes in the past have not supported them. A cross-departmental group has been established to deal with after school care. I promise to bring the concerns the Deputy has identified to the work of that group.

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