Since taking office, the Tánaiste has made eight separate cuts to the one-parent family payment. Across the State, over 30,000 lone parents are receiving letters from her Department. As their youngest children turn seven, they are being taken off the one-parent family payment with the result that thousands will see their weekly incomes fall. Of these parents, 6,400 are set to lose up to €36.50 per week while an unknown number of working parents will lose as much as €87 per week. These are real people who are struggling to get by, yet the Tánaiste is pushing them into poverty.

Let me tell the Tánaiste about Mandy. Mandy is the parent of three children whose partner died a number of years ago. She works in a low-paid job and receives the one-parent family payment. She is not eligible for the family income supplement because she only gets 14 hours work per week. She has asked her employer for more hours, but has been refused. Last week, Mandy received written confirmation that, as her son has turned seven, she will be moved to jobseeker's allowance in July. As a result, her weekly income will be cut by €87, which is a 20% drop. I remind the Tánaiste that when she introduced this change in 2012, she said it was dependant on there being a system of safe, affordable and accessible child care in place similar to what is found in Scandinavian countries. Does the Tánaiste remember saying that? She said she would only proceed with these measures to reduce the upper age limit to seven years in the event that she got a credible and bankable commitment of such a system of child care by the time of the budget. She said that if that was not forthcoming, the measure would not proceed.

There is no Scandinavian child care system available to Mandy or the thousands of other lone parents whose incomes the Tánaiste is going to cut this July. Why is the Tánaiste punishing Mandy and thousands of parents like her? Why is the Tánaiste forcing her three children and many other children into poverty? Why is the Tánaiste taking money from the pockets and food from the tables of some of the poorest families in the State? In light of her Government's failure to deliver a Scandinavian child care system, will the Tánaiste honour her commitment of 2012 not to proceed with the cuts to the one-parent family payment?

Our current system, which we have had for quite a period, involves inviting Mandy to go onto social welfare for somewhere between 18 and 22 years as opposed to moving towards a system which Sinn Féin has operated in the North for a long time as part of the Government there. In the North, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, when the youngest child reaches five years of age, a person parenting alone is encouraged to take up a range of options, including education, training and work experience, with a view to helping that parent to get employment. While our social welfare system and payments are very much higher than those that Sinn Féin pays in government in the North, the critical thing for families parenting on their own is to ensure that as the children get older, the mother, in particular, or a father parenting alone, has the opportunity to get back into work, education and training.

In relation to lone parents who are already working, I note that we are in contact with employers through the Labour Market Council to improve their hours. In that regard, the Deputy can give us the details of the case she raises.

If, as the Deputy says, her hours go from 14 hours to 19 hours, depending on the particular circumstances, she will come out with somewhere between an extra €50 and €150 per week in terms of family income supplement. That is the outcome we want to see. Some 13,000 one parent families have already transitioned to the jobseeker's transitional arrangement. The Deputy said that she would go on to the jobseeker's arrangement. That is not correct. She will go on to the jobseeker's transitional payment-----

It is the same rate.

----- which means that there is no compulsion on a lone parent whose child is between seven years of age, unlike in the North where it is five years of age, and 14 years of age. All of the options in terms of education, training, community employment and other participation will be available. If the lone parent does not want to seek any of those opportunities, there is no compulsion.

Sinn Féin's vision for young lone parents who have a child at, say, 25 years of age is to say to that parent and the child that they are going to be dependent on social welfare until the child is 18 or 22 years of age.

That is a disgrace.

That may be meant as a kindness but the consequence of Sinn Féin's policy and its policy in the South is to trap lone parents-----

They just want a job.

----- in particular younger lone parents, in, unfortunately, what might become welfare dependency. We have spent as a society billions of euro extra on lone parents. That is important because they are at a greater risk of poverty than almost any other group. Yet, with all of that spending, notwithstanding additional spending made by the previous Government during the boom, the actual outcomes for lone parents and their children disimproved.

If the Deputy gives us the details, we will be happy to see if we can assist to help her constituent to increase her hours and make a very significant improvement in her income through the family income supplement.

I am picturing Mandy, who as it happens is not a constituent of mine, and her reaction to that answer and its condescending nature-----

That is out of order.

-----and the inference that there is anyone on this side of the House or anywhere else, but more important outside of this hallowed Chamber, who wishes to spend their life reliant on social welfare. Mandy works. Did the Tánaiste hear that? This mother is at work. She gets 14 hours, and she has looked for more. She is not getting those additional hours. Unless the Tánaiste is going to intervene directly with Mandy's employer and on behalf of all the other Mandys to ensure they qualify for family income supplement, they are in real difficulties. Those difficulties are to the tune of 20% of this woman's income. The Tánaiste's answer is a smart answer.

It was not a smart answer.

She attempted to divert attention northwards, where, by the way, ladies and gentlemen and Tánaiste, it is in fact her colleague from her sister party that holds that portfolio.

Boo.

In fairness to the SDLP, alongside ourselves, it is fighting the Tory welfare cuts that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach champion.

The ones Sinn Féin bought into.

We will fight that fight in the North.

What did John O'Dowd say? Was it, "Write your answer on a placard"?

The Tánaiste should attend herself to matters here. Some 56% of lone parent families are materially deprived. A staggering 28% live at risk of poverty. That is twice the rate of two parent families.

The kids in west Belfast would recognise it. The worst deprivation levels in the UK and Northern Ireland are in west Belfast.

Does the Deputy know where it is?

A huge problem for these families, as Deputy Nash knows, is the availability of affordable and quality child care. Child care can cost as much as 52% of the take home pay of a lone parent. The Tánaiste gave an absolutely categoric commitment in 2012 when she introduced this cut that it would not go ahead in the absence of a Scandinavian child care provision. Never mind having a Scandinavian child care provision, for Mandy and all those like her, there is virtually no child care provision. I am asking the Tánaiste to stick to her word and put it to her again that she should honour the commitment she made in 2012 not to proceed with this cut to the one parent family payment in the absence of available and affordable child care. Will the Tánaiste keep her word to these families?

The Deputy's lecturing and hectoring tone-----

The Tánaiste would not know anything about that.

-----does not do anything to help lone parents in Ireland.

The Tánaiste should answer the question. Will she honour it or not?

Sinn Féin should engage seriously in this issue. In fairness to Fianna Fáil, during the time of the boom-----

Mandy is not interested in that.

Mandy wants her pandy.

I ask the Deputies not to interrupt.

Am I allowed to speak now? Is this how Sinn Féin wants to rule us? We will all be silenced.

We will be ruined.

That is what we got for donkey's years.

Who administered section 31?

When Sinn Féin were killing people.

Deputy Dowds has gone too far.

That is what they are used to in their own venue but they will not silence me. We are free citizens in a free Republic. The Deputy should remember that. We are lucky to be able to stand in this House and speak freely. I would be pleased if the Deputies would allow me to do that.

The Tánaiste should answer the question.

The previous Government, during the period of the boom, raised lone parent incomes very significantly. Unfortunately, the outcome in terms of reducing poverty levels for lone parents was not very good. In fact, the situation grew worse. Worse still, the impact on the outcomes for children of lone parents who grow up in a largely jobless household can be quite poor. Lone parents and the people I know, all down the years, who have parented on their own are just as bright, smart and intelligent as the rest of the population.

They are just as hungry.

And they need child care.

However, the Sinn Féin vision for lone parents is to say to a smart, bright-----

Hungry.

-----25 or 30 year old that it wants that person to stay dependent on welfare-----

Not true.

I asked the Tánaiste about child care.

-----until that person is roughly 47 to 50 years of age.

We close our eyes and the Tánaiste sounds like a Tory Minister in Westminster.

That is not my vision. I know that lone parents are anxious to take part in work, education and training.

They have work but they have to give it up.

We introduced the jobseeker's transition payment. More than 13,000 lone parents have already transitioned to that over the past number of years. I do not know if the Deputy knows that.

The Tánaiste already said that.

They had no choice; the Tánaiste forced them into it.

The question was about child care.

Jean McConville could have done with child care.

The impact of that has been a very significant increase in the number of lone parents who have gone on to take education and training with the support of after-school child care which has been funded and with the further development of community based child care. As the Deputy well knows, many lone parents take advantage of this child care, which is delivered at a very high standard and quality. Since I became Minister, I have completely revamped the training structure for people working in community-based child care and getting FETAC level 5 and 6 qualifications. Many of those people, by the way, are themselves people who have been parenting on their own.

Will the Tánaiste keep her word from 2012?

We want people to prosper, thrive and have opportunity.

Another broken promise from the Labour Party.

Sinn Féin seems to want people to be stuck in welfare until they are 50 years of age, when they will not be able to get a proper career.