Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 8, line 8, to delete "26 weeks" and substitute "one week".

I welcome the Minister to the House. Many groups that made a recommendation to the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on the Bill recommended the removal of the six-month employment eligibility criterion. It is our view that this will negatively affect lone parents who may be in need of flexibility in order to take up a job in the first place. Those returning to work following a period out of the labour market for care are more likely to be women, as are workers on temporary contracts. Our view is that retaining the six-month employment eligibility criterion will prevent lone parents from taking up employment, directly contributing to the ongoing high rates of poverty, at 13.1% in respect of deprivation and 44.9% in respect of this cohort.