Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Where is this in the troika agreement? It is nowhere to be seen. This is a deliberate policy choice of the Labour Party and the Fine Gael Party and it is coming into effect next Thursday. Somebody who becomes a single parent after next Thursday is subject to the provisions of this Bill and will have not Scandinavian child care available. Let us stop talking about Scandinavian child care and the undertakings that the Minister has given because they do not apply to anybody who becomes a single parent from next week. The Minister is talking about a crisis next December. There will be a crisis next week for many people in vulnerable positions.

The change for people on mortgage interest supplement would have some merit if we were forcing the banks to do some of the heavy lifting but we are not forcing the banks to act. We are sending vulnerable people to negotiate with them and then go back to a social welfare office to see if they have done enough to quality for mortgage interest supplement. Again we are targeting the most vulnerable-----