Participants believe the economy matters more than family values, writes Mark Brennock.
A series of public meetings organised by Minister for Social and Family Affairs Ms Mary Coughlan last year heard significant questioning of Government policy on the grounds that it puts the State's economic needs above those of the family.
According to a report on six family forums organised around the State, the changing nature of Irish society, and the place of the family within it, were the root of considerable concern.
Over 700 people attended the meetings to discuss family policy between June and December last year.
Ms Coughlan is currently reviewing Government policy towards the family and says this report will "have a major influence on the development of a strategy for family policy, which I am currently developing and intend to finalise soon after this consultation is completed".
As could have been expected, there was much debate over whether "family" should be defined as the traditional model of children living with married parents. However, it was the questioning of this Coalition's emphasis on individualism, economic independence and competitiveness that poses the most fundamental challenge to current Government thinking.
The report from the forums is being written by Dr Mary Daly of Queen's University Belfast. It is to report on themes that arose at the meetings, outline the different views that were expressed and will make recommendations on future policy. The Irish Times has seen a draft of some of the report.
Participants said that family values of "caring, kinship and altruism" now seem at odds with the dominant economic thrust of policy.
People believe that current policy signifies "that in the eyes of the Government and the powers that be, economic activity is more highly valued than family related forms of activity such as childcare," the report says.
"Competitiveness is almost a national slogan and economic independence was never more highly prized as people are urged to become self-sufficient and productive as workers," it says.
People cited as examples the recent changes in the tax code favouring couples where both are employed and the representation of childcare as an issue mainly for two-earner families.
"The absence of complementary measures for families where one parent is based full-time in the home was decried."
Ms Coughlan signalled in her speech last month that she was open to considering such points. She acknowledged that "shifts in values, particularly towards those supporting individualism" had had a major impact on the family.
She also welcomed the substantial growth in female employment in Ireland and said a major challenge was "how best can we support women and men in these situations to reconcile work and family life especially where they have caring responsibilities for children and other dependent family members".
A key theme that emerged was "the value placed on the family in Celtic Tiger Ireland", the report said. "Childcare and family are not seen as valuable as work," according to one participant quoted in the report.
Some said that too much focus was placed on developing incentives aimed at encouraging parents to take up paid work.
There were also complaints that people who were full-time unpaid carers in the home were regarded as non-persons.
"You are a nobody if you just look after your children," said one participant at the Donegal forum who had looked after her disabled child all her life.
Announcing this process last year, Ms Coughlan said her intention was "to take the pulse of the nation on how best the Government can support families".
The family forums threw up issues of taxation policy and heard questioning of whether Government policy puts the needs of the economy above those of the family.
"Family support is not reducible to questions about childcare or getting women back to work," said one participant quoted in the report.
"It's about giving adults and children the choice and chance to have the best life they can."
The fora focused on four themes: parenting and childhood; reconciling employment and family life; relationship difficulties; and the family as carer.
The report will also deal with the issue of how families should care for their elderly relatives - an issue of recent controversy following comments by the Tánaiste.
Ms Harney suggested that those elderly who had accumulated wealth and who are in institutional care should contribute more to their care.
The report said the view underlying much of what was said at the forums was that policy had "cut the family adrift in terms of support, expecting it to fulfil certain key tasks but leaving it more or less to its own resources in doing so".