Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I agree with much of what has been said and will not go over it. I wish to refer to one or two experiences I have had.

Sometimes maintenance is promised by a partner and there is an agreement in place that maintenance is to be paid. However, in many cases it is not or else it comes every six or eight weeks rather than every week or in whatever timeframe was agreed. The single parent is being penalised because as far as the Department is concerned, there is an agreement in place and it is of the view that the person concerned is in receipt of the maintenance payment that has been agreed to. That is one issue that must be examined. I have come across many cases where people are affected in that regard.

I agree with what Senator Craughwell said about education. I welcome the €500 back-to-education allowance, which is most important. Many single parents want to go back to work or education and the way to get such persons back to work is through education. Some individuals might not have worked for a number of years. They might have given up their jobs when they go married or entered a relationship and they need to be incentivised. I welcome anything that can be put in place to incentivise and help people to get back into education as it will help them to get back to work.

I, too, have come across the situation where someone has walked out and left a partner with a mortgage. It is a major issue and I have heard of many such cases where the single parent has been left with the children. I know of one case where a single mother has three children still in school. Unfortunately, her sibling passed away and she must now look after her mother who has dementia. She is going through the process of having her house repossessed. There are some very sad cases and perhaps they might need to be considered in a slightly different way from the norm. It is not always the case that everything fits into the one scenario. There is not always leniency when people present. There has been an uptake in the number of people receiving supplementary welfare allowances in these cases, but one size does not fit all. Each case should be examined individually because the rules do not always fit particular situations. They are the few issues I wanted to highlight.