Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

Most young girls who get pregnant do not want to be pregnant but some of do and if we ignore that, we will not be realistic about the need to tackle such dependency. We also need to examine the lack of accountability of fathers. Various Senators, including myself, have called for debates on the rights of unmarried fathers. We need to consider giving fathers real guardianship rights and responsibilities in respect of their children and, if they are not paying maintenance, we need to seek an attachment of earnings order in respect of them. That will involve an administrative burden for District Court offices but we need to examine that and also to incentivise declarations for mothers. I have seen it happen all too often in the District Court that many people get maintenance which is not declared.

Senator McFadden said the Government was going soft on fraud but I do not believe that is the case. If the Senator checks the record of the previous Minister, Deputy Hanafin, and the current Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, on cracking down on fraud in this area-----