Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have not read the report but I will do so. When I can get around to it, I will take a look at all the Sinn Féin policy papers. What passes as a policy paper for Sinn Féin is called a press release in my party. All Sinn Féin does is take a press release, put a glossy cover on it and call it a policy paper but there is very little detailed costings or information in it but we will come back to that another time.

The people who suffered the most during the recession and the lost decade were people who lost their jobs. Lots of people faced pay cuts or tax increases and lots of people faced cuts in pensions and welfare but those who lost their jobs lost everything. That is why the focus for this Government has been on employment. We now have 2 million people working again in Ireland. We may even have record numbers of employment in the next year or so. Unemployment is falling rapidly and this should be acknowledged.

To give lone parents opportunities and lift them out of poverty we can do four things. First, we can provide them with employment and our initiatives in this regard are working, as indicated by the increasing number of lone parents taking up employment. Second, we need to address the child care issue. The Deputy will know that we have introduced two years of free preschool and subsidised child care and we propose to do more in this space. Third is access to education and in this regard we have restored education bursaries for people who are non-traditional backgrounds to allow them to access education. Fourth is increases in welfare, which has been happening for two years in a row and will continue so long as this Government is in power. Fine Gael and the Independents are working together to keep the economy on a solid footing and, therefore, able to fund those improvements.

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