Lone parents need rights and opportunities instead of blame, Ms Mary Banotti MEP said yesterday. "It is time to stop dissecting the phenomenon of lone parents and laying blame for so many social ills at their door," she said while introducing the annual report of the Parents Alone Resource Centre in Coolock, Dublin.
She urged that the energy put into blaming lone parents be diverted to providing family-centred support services, child-care, training and employment opportunities. "There is little point in saying that education and training opportunities are there, if there is no child-care, or if it is available at the wrong time or is too expensive," she said.