Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There is a number of myths about lone parents. There is the myth that there are hundreds of teenage mothers, which is not so; the number of teenage mothers is substantially reduced. There is the myth that lone parents have a number of children, but the majority of lone parents have only one child. I launched some very good research which was published recently byOne Parent and which has highlighted these issues. It shows the real desire of lone parents to go into education and to return to work, and we can tap into that desire.

It has been found in other countries that a voluntary system does not work so it is a case of finding the balance between supporting the lone parent in returning to education and training and being able to reach her potential, and being able to look after her child, which is the first interest in many cases, and ensuring she does not become trapped in dependency on the book.