Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Can I explain my reasoning? The other problem I have, and I have discussed it with various Members of this House at different stages, is the dreadful history here in terms of what happened to the children of women parenting on their own. The late Frank Cluskey, the former Labour Party leader and Minister, changed that forever when he brought in allowances for mothers who were unmarried, separated or deserted. That was in the early 1970s. Time has passed, however, and we are now supporting the children of lone parents, and lone parents themselves, but in terms of the terminology used, can we not get back to describing them as parents and children without stereotyping both the parents and the children?

One of the reasons many of the countries I mentioned have a work obligation when the child is at a younger age is because there is intense support when the child is very young and they do not carry the type of stereotyping seen elsewhere. Teachers do not say that many of the children in their classes are the children of lone parents as if somehow or other they might be lesser children. Do we need to have that categorisation, which is only in social welfare, for a very long period of the child's life? It is nothing to do with what happens for the rest of the parent's life or the child's life. It is just a social welfare categorisation. I do not know why we cannot all be described as parents and children. I do not like the separation in terms of the way we describe them. It would be better if we could bring that categorisation to an end earlier in the child's life. I see some Members shaking their heads. Many married parents who are either not working or on low incomes are also contributors. Their children require support. The argument I am making to the Senators is that we should see these people as children and parents. I hope the day comes when the Department of Social Protection will not be terribly interested in the complexities of people's private relationships as a critical issue in regard to social welfare, but that day is some way off.

Senator Zappone referred to the disregard. The disregard for one person in a couple who goes out to work is €60. After the reduction, the disregard in regard to a lone parent is €130. I believe we would all say that some elements of the systems in the countries I mentioned are worth examining because their systems are quite good. In terms of the reason they have opted for an earlier age on the work obligation, I believe it is because there is a great deal of support for someone on their own with a baby. It is tough going for anyone with a baby, even if they have a good deal of support, but on their own, as was said by a Senator, it is very tough. We must examine this area again, recognise the achievements Ireland has made in changing many areas and decide there is another set of achievements we can now work towards.

I mentioned earlier that I had come from my constituency this morning. My constituency is probably the most diverse in the country. Approximately 25% of the population, and this would be the same in Senator O'Brien's constituency, would not have been born in Ireland. However, the most recent statistics indicate the average duration of a one-parent family payment is 6.1 years. While I believe Senator Mooney mentioned a figure of 92,000 lone parents, that number only pertains to those lone parents who received a social welfare income support. Tens of thousands of other lone parents do not look at all for support from social welfare payments because they are working or have other direct forms of support. One reason for there being tens of thousands of such parents is that in general, those lone parents remained closely connected to education, training and employment and therefore either did not need the support of a one-parent family payment at all or only needed it for a short time. The average duration of the one-parent family payment is three years for those claimants aged 25 or younger. This is because those younger people tend to stay closer to education and training and thus to work, whereas older lone parents, whose children tend to be older in any event and are ageing, tend to have the longest period in receipt of the payment. Again, if one considers the research published yesterday, this is because people do not go back to education and ultimately do not return to work. At present, 82% of one-parent families are Irish and approximately 18% of payments are made to non-Irish people, that is, people who came into this country.

While I greatly respect the comments of all Members, I personally am convinced that lone parents must be given much better opportunities in respect of education and training. In addition, the issue of the diversity of people's lifestyles and the diversity of people's relationships must be considered. The younger years must be emphasised, as is the case in all the other aforementioned countries, and one must then ensure people really have an incentive to return to education and training and thus into employment and to financial independence. I repeat all the research indicates that being in families that are financially independent is of tremendous benefit to children and is a good predictor of such children's ability ultimately to become financially independent. I agree with the points made by Senator Healy Eames. While I may use the word "employment", I absolutely include self-employment in this regard. When speaking to women in business, for instance, the number of women who are parenting on their own but who are making great strides in setting up their own businesses is quite striking.