Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The worst possible outcome for members of jobless households is to have no role model to which to aspire. I have seen this in numerous families where there is an intergenerational history of unemployment. I do not accept that we are doing our best for children if we facilitate a situation where they grow up in a jobless household. We need children to see their parents actively involved in the workforce.

For lone parents of children aged from seven to 14, we will not be actively pursuing them to engage with their local Intreo centre, but we hope they will choose to do so. There will be no element of force in this, which was a word the Senator used. I certainly would not go along with the idea of using force. My experience of single parents is that the vast majority want to return to employment. We have come through an extremely difficult economic period, with almost 500,000 people out of work at one point, which equated to a jobless rate of 15.1%. Through the forbearance and hard work of the citizens of this country, the unemployment rate has been reduced to 10%, or approximately 360,000 persons, which, nevertheless, is still far too high. I do accept there are issues to address and the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Gerald Nash, is addressing many of them, including the situation at Dunnes Stores. These issues must be addressed quickly and I hope to see the vast majority of them dealt with before the Government's term is over. As I said, the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, is already making progress in a range of areas.

I am sure the Senator will agree that the best thing for children is to see their parents going out to work. There is no question but that the surest way out of poverty is through employment. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, indicated at the weekend that the report commissioned by this Department on this issue is close to being finished and will be brought to Cabinet shortly. I look forward to its publication. There are gaps in the provision of child care, but that should not paralyse us into inaction. Far too many people have been left behind on the scrap heap. We must have a robust welfare system that helps people back into employment.

The Department of Social Protection has been totally transformed in recent years. No longer a passive Department that simply pays people according to their entitlement, it is now proactive in trying to get people back to work, into a better financial position and in a situation where they are more involved with their communities. We actively seek out employment opportunities, engage with employers and recruit from the live register. JobsPlus has been exceptionally successful in helping the long-term unemployed into work and is just one of a range of transformational measures initiated by the Department. For too long, the Department was a passive entity. People received their entitlement and it did not matter if they stayed on the dole forever. The view now is that the Department has entered into a contract with taxpayers to do everything in its power to help people who have had the misfortune to lose their job to find new employment. When the child of a lone parent reaches seven years of age, the Department will assist that parent to increase his or her hours to 19 per week, and that person will see a significant increase in his or her take-home money. We are working with the Labour Market Council to ensure there are opportunities for lone parents to increase their hours. There is a small number of bad employers in the State, but that will be addressed in the coming year. I am confident we will see a transformed landscape.