Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I, too, want to thank the Minister for the time he has given, and the officials for the amount of work they have put into the legislation. It is very good that we are changing the name of some of the schemes. We will look back in time and wonder how long we could have gotten away with calling the "old age pension" just that, because it is ageist, to say the least. Politically correct terms such as "illness", "allowance" and "State pensions" are welcome developments.

I deeply appreciate the Minister has put on record the fact that 2% of lone parents are in the teenage category. That banishes a myth and takes the wind out of the campaign of some leading academics and journalists who have a crusade against some of the most vulnerable people to come under the auspices of the Minister's Department.

I should like to see a simplification of the language that is being used. Much of the language in the Bill is there for parliamentary purposes and a select number of people will have an interest in that type of communication. When it comes to ordinary customer service, however, there must be simplification, and not just in the explanatory memorandums and booklets attached to various schemes. It is important that people should be able to read user-friendly booklets in language that is easy to understand, to ensure optimal communication between the customer and the Department.