Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make my contribution short, for the benefit of other Members. I, too, welcome the Minister into the House this afternoon and wish him all the best in his new portfolio. I will confine my contribution to questions.

I raised the issue of single parents earlier in respect of the one-parent family payment. As the Minister knows, its reduction last year has caused much annoyance and hardship to lone parent families. Perhaps that is an area the Minister might explore with a view to restoring that payment to what it was.

My colleague Senator O'Reilly mentioned the virtues of Intreo offices and the great job they do. I understand only two counties in the country do not have one - namely, Roscommon and Monaghan. Is there a particular reason for that, or are there any plans to address that situation?

Community service programmes play a vital role in disadvantaged areas, as the Minister knows, and many people benefit from them. The minimum wage was increased some time ago and the community service programmes were not reimbursed for the additional funding that required. Perhaps that is something that could be looked into as well.

Finally, the issue of PRSI for councillors was mentioned earlier. I too would like to champion that, along with other Members, and I would like to compliment the Minister on taking the initiative himself. I heard him speak on the issue in the media quite recently and I compliment him on that. I look forward to any proposals and would be delighted if he would share with us this evening any proposals he has in that regard.