Averil Power (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Nobody is gaining as a result of this change and the loss for some families is up to €140 per week. For a lone parent who is already facing pressure at this time of year, trying to organise school uniforms, back-to-school costs and all of that, this is the worst possible time to be hit with these costs. I am sure all of us have had people contacting our offices who have been made homeless. I have heard from several lone parents from my area who are living in B&Bs and hostels and who have been there for months. As the Minister of State knows well, people are in temporary accommodation for six or nine months and Dublin City Council is saying that it is trying to get to them, but it cannot. It is a shocking situation.

These cuts also have to be seen in the context of broader cost increases on families over the last few years and what has been happening to the most vulnerable families in our society. It is also ironic that these cuts are being implemented at what the Government tells us is a time of recovery. It tells us the recession is behind us and that we have nothing to worry about anymore while cuts like this are being implemented. It is also worth noting that the Government gave its rationale for these cuts in 2012 as wanting to help lone parents and lift them out of poverty. We have seen from the earlier cuts that were imposed since then that more lone parents have had their poverty levels increase. Some 63% live in deprivation as a result, so the consistent poverty rates among lone parents have increased since the Government set out to help them. What kind of help is that?

When we discussed these cuts back in 2012, I voted against them. I tabled an amendment that stated they would only be implemented if the child care provisions were in place. I said to the Tánaiste that I really hoped she would be the Minister to bring in Scandinavian-style child care in Ireland but that I was afraid it would not happen and was afraid of the consequences for families if it did not. At the time, the Government Senators told us their reason for supporting the changes was that they believed the Tánaiste's word. They said they would not vote for the changes only that she had given that commitment. When the facts change, the only rational thing to do is to change one's mind. It is very clear now that that child care has not been delivered, that consistent poverty rates among lone parents have increased, not decreased, as a result of earlier tranches of this policy, and that it must be stopped now. I was astonished at the time that Government Senators for whom I have a lot of respect supported these cuts, because I felt, particularly for some of the Labour Party members, that it would be a red line for them and that they would not stand over them, but I will be disgusted if they do so again today. This is an opportunity to stand up for the most vulnerable in our society and to do the right thing. I appreciate that it is difficult from a political point of view. People do not want to lose the Whip and do not want to find themselves outside their party, but sometimes in politics, one has to do the right thing and must take the consequences. I have been there in recent weeks.