Katherine Zappone (Independent)

I look forward to hearing the replies to the questions asked by Senator Darragh O'Brien. Second, the Minister has said a number of times that it is important to improve our system because the spend within the current system does not lead to the outcomes we want. I agree with that. The Minister also said that the change in the age of the youngest child, which is effectively the provision we are debating, will not save money but that we must make changes in the age of the youngest child because that is part of her vision of improving the system. In my earlier comments I said that this change is in addition to the change instituted before Christmas with the reduction of the earnings disregard for determining the means for the one-parent family payment. That is reducing over time. Ultimately, according to figures given to me by the Department, the money saved by reducing the earnings disregard will amount to approximately €159 million up to 2015. Can the Minister indicate or confirm that some of the savings arising from that change might go towards the child care the Minister is promising for the future but is not willing to include in the law? We need child care, and the Minister has indicated as much. Is that a better way to spend the money than what it is currently being spent on?

I wish to read into the record a few lines of an opinion offered by Frances Byrne, director of OPEN, in the newspaper today. She puts the case better than I can. She states:

Those who share concerns about the serious levels of poverty that affect one-parent families are in favour of social welfare reform. The content of the Social Welfare Bill will not achieve this unless the critical issue of child care is addressed, as the Minister has described. The Minister will need to, therefore, have the courage, along with her Cabinet colleagues, to offer a clear and honest assessment in December on whether this has in fact happened. Otherwise the stated agenda to improve economic independence among lone parents will be set back by many years.