Today, as others have said, is D-Day for lone parents when their payment is cut if their youngest child has turned seven years of age. This is quite amazing. One must remember that these are lone parents and a seven year old is a very young child who cannot be left alone. If such children are left alone, that is neglect.

The parenting would be called into question if that happened. I voted for this proposal when I was on the other side of the House because the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy JOan Burton, promised me and members of Fine Gael and Labour Party that the cut would not come into operation until appropriate supports had been put in place. She mentioned in particular child care of the same quality as that which is available in Scandinavian countries. A month ago Senator Gerard P. Craughwell and I visited child care facilities in Finland and a comparable child care system is not in place in Ireland. We are probably 50 years away from such quality and standards, and may never have such child care unless we plan for it. The House will rise in a week or so. Some 12,000 vulnerable people - mothers, by and large - will be affected, along with their children. It it a scandal. It is not reform, as Senator Colm Burke said. Mothers are unable to go to work or continue in education because they do not have child care supports, and their young children will be at risk of poverty. How can that be called reform? I would call it State neglect. Before the House rises, I ask the Leader to ensure the Minister will address the issue with us in order that we can go into the summer recess with some understanding and awareness that lone parents will be supported rather than being left high and dry. Why are we singling out people who are at risk of poverty?

The Senator's time is up.

Did I or other Senators ever have to parent children alone? When my children were that age, I was glad to have a second parent. I take my hat off to them.

The Senator's point has been made.

I do not know how they do it. Let us not hang them out to dry. I thank the Leader for his time and look forward to the answer.

I add my voice to those who have raised the issue of lone parents. It is appalling that many families who, as we know from the statistics, struggle economically to rear their children and make ends meet, as well as being below the poverty line, are being abandoned by the Government. As Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said, the Minister gave a commitment that none of this would be triggered until such time as there were adequate child care facilities in place to enable such women to work. The cost of child care in this country is prohibitive for anyone on a modest income. I ask the Minister to revisit the decision at this late stage.

There is an interesting resolution before the 29th session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, currently under way in Geneva, entitled "Protection of the family: The contribution of the family to the realisation of the right to adequate standard of living for its members particularly through its role in poverty irradiation and achieving sustainable development." It could not be more pertinent in view of the debate we had today on lone parents. The resolutions includes a number of points. It urges member states to create a conducive environment to strengthen and support all families; underlines that the family has the primary responsibility for nurturing and protecting children from infancy to adolescence; states the introduction of children to the cultural values and norms of their society begins in the family; urges states to take appropriate measures to ensure that a child is not separated from his or her parents against his or her will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child; and reaffirms the right of the child to education and states that education should be directed to the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities. Ireland is a member of the UN Human Rights Council. It is more in hope than expectation that I say I expect Ireland to support this, given the record of the Government on child protection and the family. In the event that Ireland does not support or opposes the resolution, I ask that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade come to the House to explain why an anti-family course of action was taken.

For the past few days I have asked for an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that the Minister for Social Protection be brought to the House to discuss the issue of lone parents. Yesterday I received a message from a supporter of one of the Government's parties, stating, "I think you want a culture of schoolgirls in gym frocks pushing prams and on social welfare for life." I have two sisters who were lone parents and went through extreme hardship to rear four children, attend university, get good jobs and live productive lives. I am damn well not going to take that sort of rubbish from anybody.

Senator Paschal Mooney has asked for an amendment to the Order of Business, which has been seconded, and I hope this time the Government has the guts to bring the Minister to the House, have the figures on the table and see who is suffering. I have been inundated with messages from lone parents who have not received their payments. There are people who cannot afford to take the bus to Dublin today. What is going on? We have to do something about this. It is like Irish Water: something is pushed and driven through, no matter what happens, and to hell with what anybody thinks. This is a democratically elected House. The Minister is quite happy to speak to Sean O'Rourke on the airwaves but will not address the House. It is not good enough.

I was with Senator Paschal Mooney at the gates of the Houses yesterday. I have supported the Irish Water campaign and other things that go against Government policy. What I saw happen to the Senator yesterday was totally unacceptable. He was accosted while minding his own business. It was outrageous. Many good people travelled from all over the country to be outside the gates of this House, but there were about 25 thugs there, who should be nowhere else but in jail. I support Senator Mooney.