Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 6, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

"2.—The Minister shall within 6 months from after the passing of this Act prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the impact of the social welfare system on one parent families and on proposals to remove the restriction on formation of a family unit which presently applies to recipients of such payments, and to alleviate the requirement that income disregard be assessed by reference to any particular week rather than averaged over a year or other period.".

This amendment relates to the impact of the social welfare system on one parent families and on proposals to remove the restriction on the formation of a family unit, which currently applies to recipients of the lone parent allowance. It also relates to proposals to alleviate the requirement that income disregard be assessed by reference to any particular week rather than averaged over a year or other period. The amendment is quite clear, therefore, and raises a number of issues to which we must give priority. One such issue is how we can manage the matter of lone parenting. As the Minister pointed out in the Dáil, lone parents are not just single women; we are also talking about widows, widowers and other groups. The most recent debate on this area has focused on the classic definition of lone parents — usually young women, often in their teens, who have one or more children, live in local authority housing, are dependent on social welfare, unemployed and need support. I wish to concentrate my remarks on that group in particular. As a public representative, I am in constant contact with such women and am concerned by the lack of support for them.

I want to examine in particular the rent allowance system because most of the representations I receive from lone parents concern local authority housing. I fully support such women in their efforts to find accommodation because I see it as a way out of the dependency cycle in which they find themselves. I advise them, however, that they need to be in training or work but how will they go about doing so? Being in a local authority house means they are paying rent at a manageable level and are not trapped in the rent allowance cycle. I would like to hear the Minister's response to that point. I know he is conducting a review in this area arising from the recent controversial public debate. I hope the Minister will examine ways of ensuring we support, encourage, enable and empower this group of parents to participate actively in education and the workforce for their own sakes.

I have advised young women — some of whom are not yet even 20 years of age and have one or two children — that they will still be young when their children are in secondary school. They may only be in their early thirties, so what will they do then? Are they going to sit around and do nothing? For their own sake and that of their children, they should be actively involved in education or the workforce. It is a matter of concern to us all that such lone parents are particularly at risk of repeating the cycle of dependency. In other words, their children are being raised in an environment of poverty, lone parenting and full dependency on the social welfare system. That cannot be regarded as a good thing.

Such people are generally living in local authority housing or in private accommodation that is largely supported by rent allowances. Child care is critical in breaking that dependency. The children of such lone parents live in poverty and are at high risk of remaining so. It is important, therefore, that those children receive the best quality of child care available, not just to support their parents but also to give them the best start in life. This support should be available throughout their childhood years, thus ensuring they are less likely to remain in an inevitable cycle of dependency. The State must examine what measures need to be put in place to achieve such a goal. Financial support for lone parents must remain at current levels because we cannot fail to support them. I hope we have put behind us the time when lone parents were stigmatised and received no assistance.

Now is the time to examine what real supports we can put in place. I appeal to the Minister to discuss this matter with his colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who has responsibility for the equal opportunities child care programme. Both Ministers should examine the option of channelling funds to disadvantaged families in communities, such as some in the Nenagh area, that may not be as disadvantaged as poor areas in our major cities. We must consider how child care facilities can be used to support children and parents, as well as education and work initiatives. Such supports should be integrated and regarded as a whole. That is the only way of breaking this cycle of dependency.

It must be a matter of concern to us that young women are continually entering the social welfare system, who effectively choose to be lone parents. We cannot and must not accept such a development as inevitable, however. The amendment has been tabled in the context of the current debate on lone parents. We will not be acting responsibly unless we examine this matter closely and take it on. We must constantly review and update the support mechanisms in addition to being flexible. I would like the Minister to respond on the rent allowance issue which is the single biggest disincentive for many young women to work.