Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of all those in Dublin and Dublin south as well as across Ireland, we extend our sympathies to the families of the six young Irish people who had a brutal death in Berkeley practically 48 hours ago. When I came back from a meeting last night, I saw on Sky News how the timber of the balcony had completely broken. It was a brutal and instant fall and a totally wrong construction. There will be an investigation, but no words are adequate to say how everyone in Ireland is traumatised and has sympathy for the young people who remain in hospital, some with brain damage. These were young people on the crest of a wave in their lives, on the cusp of entering into life and off to enjoy themselves. I believe Senator Jim D'Arcy's son is in Berkeley also, while my own niece is in San Francisco. Thousands of young Irish people have the pleasure of going out and participating and seeing the world in California, and when something like this happens there are no words. I am glad the national flag is flying at half mast and that the Taoiseach has spoken out to express the feelings of the Government.

In The Irish Timestoday, Carl O'Brien has an article on the cuts to the lone parent allowance by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton. I have spoken about this before, but I understand that Deputy Burton is meeting Karen Kiernan of One Family today to discuss these savage cuts. I put on the record again that this is the most gendered cut in the history of the Irish State. Of all lone parents, 98% are women. That this cut is being made by a cold-hearted woman is hard to believe. Apparently, her bureaucrats are advising her that this will encourage lone parents to participate in the economy. However, in a very striking letter last week, Professor Kathleen Lynch of UCD's school of social justice said that cuts in respect of this group of young people have not worked out positively. It is literally taking away their bread, given that the latest figures from the CSO indicate that two thirds of lone parents live in deprivation and suffer the highest poverty rates. What kind of country is it at all? The Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, is the one who is really cold-hearted. I call for a positive response from the meeting reported today in The Irish Timeswith Karen Kiernan of One Family, and I compliment Louise Bayliss of SPARK, which supports single parents. We had an excellent protest outside.

I second Senator Terry Leyden's proposal to amend the Order of Business today.