Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I read the motion carefully and disagree with some of the issues outlined. I refer to the statistics from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 2013. The motion stated that the survey stated that 23% of one-parent families with dependent children live in consistent poverty which is almost three times as many as in the general population. The Government cited the same report but claimed lone parents were two and half times more at risk of consistent poverty than the rest of the population. However, if one goes back to 2004 - the height of the boom - they were more than four-and-a-half times more at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole. Those details speak for themselves and prove this did not work at the height of the boom.

In regard to the paragraph seeking a reversal of the cuts, is Fianna Fáil proposing to reverse all of the changes that were made in respect of lone parents? These are the same proposals that Fianna Fáil's then Minister, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, signed off on prior to the general election. Is Fianna Fáil seeking to reverse the cuts its Government made to the rates of payment to lone parents? Is Fianna Fáil seeking to reverse its decision to abolish the Christmas bonus? Is it just asking for the changes that have happened this month to be reversed? What about the people who have changed over to the jobseeker's scheme over the past two years? Perhaps some Senator from Fianna Fáil can address this matter. I ask that party to put on record what it proposes to do if it is in government after the next election.