Lone parent support must be tackled, says top academic

THE academic who came under fire over his comments about lone parents, last night reiterated his belief that our society needs to look at social welfare systems which encourage single-parent families.

In a public lecture at UCC, Dr Edward Walsh, University of Limerick president emeritus, argued that society was facing difficulties due to the erosion of the traditional family structure.

He said the State is providing very real financial incentives which are actively encouraging the emergence of lone parent families.