David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the sentiments of the previous speaker who has articulated the concerns many of us have about this issue. We tabled an amendment on it which has been ruled out of order because it would pose a charge on the Exchequer, which it would, but there would also be a beneficial cost to the State in ensuring lone parents and single mothers and fathers have access to extra hours of work and the ability to work full-time if proper child care were provided. While there might be a cost to providing the service, there would also be an economic benefit to the State.What we would like to see happen in this section is the cut-off age for the one-parent family payment scheme being raised to 12 years instead of being lowered to seven, as the Government intends to do. It passed legislation in 2012, the purpose of which was to lower the cut-off age for the lone parents scheme from ten years to seven from this July. We believe that is far too young, particularly in the absence of affordable and accessible child care, something that was promised by the Government. It was not something about which the Tánaiste spoke lightly when she made a commitment in 2012, both in the Dáil and the Seanad, to propose changes. It was promised by the Government to support working mothers and fathers, but apart from cutting funding to community child care services, precious little was done about this issue. In fact, the Government cut child benefit twice, which added salt to the wounds.

I am disappointed that the amendment was ruled out of order. In the Dáil Chamber in 2012 the Tánaiste referred to an immediate incentive to increase the number of hours worked each week. She stated individuals would then be financially better off. Her logic was that it was an incentive for women and other workers to work extra hours, but in the real world that simply was not the reality. What we have seen, contrary to what the Minister said, is an increase in the level of precarious and part-time work. There are workers on low hour contracts who want to move from working eight, ten or 15 hours a week to higher hour contracts. We saw this happen at Dunnes Stores and it is happening in the retail and hospitality sectors and elements of the child care service. Many of the areas populated by women are affected by this issue. People want to work more hours, but they are not being given the opportunity to do so by their employers or if they are, they are working the longer hours offered. In some cases, as in the case of the Dunnes Stores workers, they are working 30 hours a week and will be over the course of four or five years but are still stuck on ten or 15 hour contracts, with all of the disadvantages for the workers. The Government has done precious little about that matter either. Workers want to work more hours, but the supports needed such as child care are not available. There is a huge lack of investment in child care which is holding back economic growth and the ability of many who are returning to work.

I do not accept the logic of what the Government is doing with regard to the reduction in the one-parent family payment age limit. In section 6 we are seeking to increase it to 12 years, which we believe is the correct age. In tandem with this, we want to hear from the Government on the issue. The Minister of State might be able to enlighten us on what the Government intends to do to invest in child care to ensure families will have access to decent and affordable child care facilities to enable people to work the hours they want to work.

The Minister of State might also be able to explain also what he intends to do about the issue of precarious work and low hour contracts and the exploitation in the sectors I mentioned, which disproportionately has an impact on low paid workers, including women. What does the Government intend to do about that issue? If the Minister of State was to enlighten us, we might be in a better position to look more favourably at what it is the Government is doing, but in the absence of that happening, I agree with the previous speaker that this is not something to be supported, rather it is something that, unfortunately, will have a negative impact on lone parents.