Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy that in a world where any man or woman goes out to work, he or she should be able to earn enough to sustain a family. My point, which may have been made clumsily, was that when we sit down for negotiations with the public sector, we do not decide what a nurse should be paid if he or she has two, four or ten children. The salary is the salary, which is why it is more important we have payments with added disregards such as the working family payment.

The payment, which was established by the former Fianna Fáil Government and then modified in the past number of years, is definitely a worthwhile support. We wish we did not need it and that everyone went to work as much as necessary to provide for himself or herself. Until that day of utopia, however, the working family payment is important in all its guises.

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