The Tánaiste has rejected a charge in the Dáil that the Labour Party in Government was targeting the weakest in society.
Eamon Gilmore was responding to Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming, who was taking part in Leaders’ Questions for his party.
Mr Fleming claimed that the Government adopted "a successful smokescreen" around the cutting of the one-parent allowance for children under seven.
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said she would only proceed with the measure if she got a guarantee of a childcare package for that age cohort.
Mr Fleming said this had diverted attention away from the fact that the allowance for under-12s was being cut for new applicants from next week and for under-10s some months down the road.
The Tánaiste said the changes in the one-parent family payment had already begun under the Fianna Fáil government in 2010.
