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Dáil
‹ Questions on Promised Legislation

Millar report on lone parents

Summary

Deputy Boyd Barrett asked when the leaked Millar report on lone parents would be published and criticised the impact of welfare cuts. The Tánaiste said she would ask the Minister to reply, and that the report would inform budget decisions and future child care supports for lone parents.

The Department of Social Protection commissioned the Millar report on the situation of lone parents. As the report has not been published, will the Tánaiste tell us when it will be published? As she may know, it has been leaked and is in the public domain today. It has found that the mandate from the troika was to save money; that the cuts and changes made affected lone parents and left them financially worse off; that the one-size-fits-all approach to lone parents has not worked; that lone parents who work part time are worse off as a result of the cuts imposed by the Government; that the stigmatisation of lone parents continues; and that all of this contributes significantly to the level of child poverty. As all of this is contained in the report that has now been leaked, I want to know when it will be formally published and we will be given an opportunity to discuss it. Given that the report is a damning assessment of the Government's treatment of lone parents, will the Government legislate to deal with the incidence of child poverty?

Comment on this

I will ask the Minister for Social Protection to revert to the Deputy on the publication date of the report. I have no doubt that it will inform the budgetary decisions that will be taken in the area of social welfare. The Government is also committed to the development of further appropriate subsidised child care initiatives, particularly for lone parents in order that they will feel supported in the choices they make in combining work and family life.

Comment on this