Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I would like to reiterate all that has been said on section 4, especially the comments made by Senator van Turnhout, particularly given her own professional background. We should withdrawn section 4 until such time as the Minister's commitments come into force. Otherwise, this is going to affect lone parents from next week. That is putting it at its most simple. When the next monitoring report of the troika comes out in a few months all of the indicators and commentary will be about the low-hanging fruit - that awful term - in terms of the taxes and reductions that the Government has imposed in order to bridge the deficit. We are now entering into a much more serious period. Therefore, it seems that the much vaunted commitment of the Minister to introduce adequate child care provisions in advance is not going to happen because the Government will be faced with a much more difficult situation after July than it has faced up to now. Why then is the Minister of State pulling the wool over people's eyes by suggesting that these measures can be alleviated by bringing in proper child care? I do not believe that is going to happen.

Margaret Dromey, the CEO of Treoir, the national federation of services for unmarried parents and their children, has stated:

In the absence of vital support services such as child care, training, flexible working hours being in place, this legislation will have a disastrous effect on many one parent families. It just won't work. The supports must be in place before the age limit is reduced to 7.

They are saying it, not us. If the people at the coalface are saying it they should be listened to, even if the Minister does not want to listen to the political opposition.

I also want to mention the proposals in section 7 with regard to cuts and disqualifications from payments under the community employment scheme. Following a furore in the early part of this year about reductions and restrictions on CE services, the Minister promised that she would institute a review, which was to be finished by the end of March. It is now nearly May and we still have not seen the review. Could the Minister of State tell us when the review will be done? In the meantime, will he ensure the uncertainty with regard to CE schemes across the country, but particularly in rural Ireland, is removed? Even within the context of the massive reduction in the CE budget, could he at least provide some certainty? That budget has been reduced from €360 million to €315 million this year. In order to keep the schemes going as they are currently structured, money will have to be found elsewhere in the Department's budget. This is a serious question about CE schemes that the Minister must answer. This affects every Member of the House on all sides, from the Minister of State downwards. The Minister of State will know that in rural Ireland, including in his own constituency - mine is Sligo-North Leitrim - the CE schemes are a vital component of the social fabric. I have no doubt the Minister of State will be working hard to ensure the CE schemes are maintained in their present infrastructure.