Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

What we are seeing today with the number of amendments to the Order of Business is probably the product of not having a proper debate about the budget prior to the budget. The chicks are now coming home to roost. Serious issues have been raised. I second Senator Mac Conghail's amendment to the Order of Business asking the Minister for Social Protection to come to the House to discuss the disability issue. With all due respect to Senators Conway and Noone whom I respect on this issue whose bona fides I accept, "Prime Time" is not the place to discuss issues of policy. This is the national Parliament. We did not get an opportunity to discuss these issues before the budget. If we had been given such an opportunity it is possible these anomalies would have been highlighted. When the Minister comes to the House I would also like to discuss with her the great unfairness of the measures regarding one-parent families who are being hammered by this budget. The cutbacks are an absolute disgrace. I raised issues with the Minister previously regarding the fact that people in receipt of lone-parent payments are exempt from JobBridge; they are not permitted to participate in that scheme. The budget proposes cutting back their payments and their rights and getting them back out to work as soon as their children are seven years of age but the training opportunities are not being provided to them. These are significant issues. They are being hammered with more VAT, more carbon tax, higher petrol and diesel prices, higher school bus fares, rent costs, water charges, household charges, and more. This is another decision which requires a U-turn. If the House had the opportunity to have a proper debate before the budget, we would have raised this issue and we would have outlined that this is an unfair and inequitable use of the budgetary process. The Minister should come to the House today because this is a massive issue causing significant distress for single parents as Christmas approaches.