Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and the Bill. I commend the Minister on his efforts to reform the system. When the next history of the Department of Social and Family Affairs is written he will have many honourable mentions.

Social welfare has received substantial resources in recent years and payments now keep up with average real income growth, not just compensating for inflation. If one does not wish the poverty gap to increase, it is necessary to take this step. I welcome the new names the Minister has applied to various schemes. In the constituency in which I reside the point has been made that the terms "jobseeker's benefit" and "jobseeker's allowance" are, in some cases, aspirational. However, I do not make a serious objection to that.

Although it has not reached legislative form, I approve of the Minister's wish to make progress on the issue of lone parents. The scheme was introduced when people were balancing strong social disapproval with a duty to do something for lone parents. The climate has changed completely and the idea of social welfare espionage is inappropriate to the society in which we live today. I encourage him to bring such ideas to fruition.

As the Minister has been around for some time I had to smile at his statement that "child benefit is a most effective child income support mechanism". He will remember, as I do, that 25 years ago the idea of providing money for child benefit was regarded as a waste of money. A former leader of our party once stated that if he had money to spare for social welfare, the last place he would put it was child benefit.