Cullen highlights role of parents

The "greatest gift" a parent could give a child was to be a role model with a career, Minister for Social and Family Affairs Martin Cullen said yesterday.

Speaking at the publication of the annual report of the lone-parents' advocacy organisation, One Family, Mr Cullen also said single fathers' rights would be an important issue for him.

He said he hoped that his department could help unmarried fathers achieve equal access to their children. He said he had met representatives of single fathers in his Waterford constituency over the years.

"So I would know some of them. I would hope that in my time in the department we can make sure there is a greater equality for fathers in access to children and asserting some of the rights they might have. I think that's an important issue."

The director of One Family, Karen Kiernan, said fathers often faced "their own unique set of challenges in parenting alone, which may differ from the experiences of mothers.

"This can include difficulties building relationships with their children if they don't have primary care or regular access."

It was important that fathers were aware of the supports available to them from organisations such as One Family "particularly as these types of services are not widely available". These included parent mentoring and counselling services.

She said children had a right to positive relationships with both their parents where possible. "We believe that Government needs to support initiatives that can make this a reality."

The charity is currently being funded by the Family Support Agency to research the possible role for family contact centres - where children and parents can meet in a neutral setting - and Ms Kiernan called on the Government to mainstream the initiative. The charity's chairman, Dr Fergus Ryan, said he hoped the next budget would see targeted new payments aimed at children living in poverty. He called for greater public service supports for lone parents "working hard to obtain education and training qualifications".

"We know that policy changes that support one-parent families to move away from poverty and into meaningful employment, that allow real choices to reflect the growing diversity of such families and that are backed up by easier access to education and training opportunities . . . will be very positively received by our members."