John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister says lone parents were one of her key target groups in the budget. I admit there were small changes. I do not think they went far enough. A €2 increase for a qualified child must be regarded as small. It is trivial. If the Minister looks at the Indecon report and the survey that was carried out, she will see that 11 specific questions were put to lone parent families regarding the affordability of basic items like fuel, a decent coat or decent shoes. Anyone who was surveyed said that they are in a worse position than they were 12 months ago. There are huge challenges here. The Minister can talk and say she is on their side but action speaks louder than words. There are many other actions that should and could be taken. Certainly Sinn Féin put forward many of those in our alternative budget. These figures are for 2016. The Indecon report is probably more up to date. There are huge problems here and the Minister needs to take them on board and make changes.

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