Welfare Reform Bill

I thank the Minister for his comments. This has been a useful debate. Obviously, these are probing amendments and we are not seeking necessarily to remove these clauses. They will be interesting to study in the light of the Minister’s contribution because this is an extremely complex issue. I made light of the complexity but I am well aware that, from the department’s point of view, this area is extremely complex because the traditional patterns of relationships do not apply nowadays. Even polygamy may well be considered to be a fairly rigid form of relationship which may not fit in with other couple-type arrangements which I expect would be covered by the regulations, which the Minister has not really addressed in his response. I hope that I am right to say that relationships where a man, for example, is the head of household in two entirely different families without one family knowing about the other, will be covered by this clause. I hope that the Minister can confirm that that is the case.