Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome, as always, to the House.

I will support the Bill today but I will look at amendments that are put forward on Committee Stage. I would prefer if we could go further with payments and restore them to the fullest extent.

We shall debate a motion later in this House and, therefore, I shall mainly deal with my issues regarding lone parents later on. However, there are issues around child care, other supports and the difficulties of knowing what is and is not within the remit of the Department. As we know, children do not live in any one Department or under any one remit but interconnectiveness is important. I must reiterate, and we have already dealt with the following in the House, that at the first sign of the economy turning we increased child benefit. Why was that funding not invested in child care services? When the cuts were made we were told that just increasing transfer payments was not the answer and we needed to invest in services. What are the priorities? How will we ensure that they are prioritised?

In regard to the back to work family dividend, Senator Naughton has eloquently outlined the importance of work. She outlined the links between jobless households and child poverty and how both factors are interrelated. I echo and agree with everything that she has said. Part of me does wonder, but again this matter is outside the remit of the Department, why Ireland is exceptional in not allowing those in direct provision to work? I do not understand such a policy, particularly as Senator Naughton has clearly outlined the importance of work. Even the discipline of work provides a role model for a child. Being part of a family and children seeing people going out to work is critically important. The Senator also mentioned the generational outcomes and how work feeds that path.

I am also concerned about supports. Perhaps we will deal with the issue more later when we discuss the motion on lone parents. I am also concerned about the lack of regulation and guidance for afterschool child care. It is good that there is a scheme but I do not want the same thing to happen when early years education was introduced. Following talk about early years education a scheme evolved but now we are trying to unpick it and re-channel energies. I hope, in this instance, that we could sit down and draft clear regulations.

I wish to raise an issue that relates to the Gender Recognition Bill introduced by the Department of Social Protection in this House. As the Minister of State will recall, when it came through the House in January and February, and particularly in February, I raised issues concerning the silent treatment of trans and intersex children and young people in the Bill. I stated in my correspondence sent to the Minister of State and the Tánaiste, that I would return to the issue when we debate the next Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill and stipulated a timeline of three months. The period has not elapsed so I shall not raise the issue but just note it and put down a marker. The Minister of State may recall that I offered to engage constructively with the Department's officials. There must be a workable legislative solution. Malta has brought in laws to deal with the issue. We have a lacuna because the Bill does not provide the mechanism for legal, even temporary, recognition of the gender for trans and intersex children under 16 years even though all parties are in agreement that it would be in the best interests of the child.

I was encouraged and heartened to see by the Dáil debate on the issue. Deputies right across the House raised similar issues which were echoed in the debate. It is firmly incumbent on us, the Legislature, to ensure we have proper provisions that uphold the rights of trans and intersex children and prioritises their best interest, and that we do not put the issue on the long finger. I ask the Minister of State to give us an update on the matter given that I plan to raise it when we debate the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.