Ms Louise Bayliss:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to address it. We welcome the opportunity to discuss the grave realities facing families. Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Children, SPARK, is a voluntary organisation that was established in December 2011 to campaign specifically in respect of the changes to the one-parent family payment. The reforms lone parents are facing in July are the final stage of reforms introduced in budget 2012. They are wide-ranging in nature but in essence they remove the status as carers for parents once their youngest children turn seven. This has huge implications for how one-parent families can manage both child-caring and chief-bread-winner roles. During the initial debate relating to the relevant legislation, the Tánaiste, Deputy Burton, allayed concerns from NGOs , Opposition members and backbenchers by undertaking not to proceed with the legislation without a child care system similar to that which obtains in Scandinavia. We are now facing into these changes in the absence of the affordable child care and we are worried for our families.

One-parent families have traditionally suffered higher deprivation and poverty rates than the general population. The policy in this regard was designed to encourage more active inclusion of one-parent families through greater uptake of employment and educational opportunities. However, while this has been the motivation, the necessary child care supports have not been provided. Our families are the poorest in society and we are not in a position to withstand any further cuts to our incomes.

Child care is a huge barrier to all working parents in Ireland. According to the OECD, the average two-parent family spends 17% of its net income on child care. For two-parent families in Ireland that goes up to 34% and for one-parent families 53% of their net income goes on child care. This is the barrier we face.

These cuts are regressive and will see those earning least paying most. A lone parent with one child, working 20 hours per week on the minimum wage, will lose €50.72 this July and that is taking into account the back-to-work family dividend and increases in FIS payments. That will rise to €80.52, or 18% of their income, by July 2017 when they lose the back-to-work family dividend. The poorest will lose 18% of their income.

Jobseeker's transitional payment for parents whose children are aged over seven and under 14 has been introduced in lieu of child care. This is a welcome move but it is not enough and it is a regressive step for working lone parents as a working lone parent earning €150 per week will lose an additional €30 per week. This loss is in addition to cuts caused by changes to the income disregard, so there is a cumulative loss of €53 per week for a person earning €150 per week and transitioning to the jobseeker's transitional payment.

Lone parents transitioning to FIS will lose fuel allowance of €520 per year and 40% of their current one-parent family allowance payment. Lone parents who are full-time carers and not in receipt of domiciliary care allowance will lose €86 per week when they lose entitlement to one-parent family allowance. There are many claimants on primary social welfare payments who are entitled to this indefinitely.

Lone parents in full-time education may transfer to back-to-education allowance, although it is not guaranteed. If they can do so, they will lose their student maintenance grant, a loss of €2,375 per year or a total weekly loss of €45. Many will be forced to abandon their studies.

We believe there are many flaws in the policy. First, the objective of the policy is to encourage lone parents into job activation and education, yet it is making it harder for those already fulfilling that objective. Only parents who are already working, learning or caring will face any financial changes. Second, the State has a mechanism to hold an absent parent responsible for costs incurred in maintaining a one-parent family with its maintenance recovery unit. Once we change to jobseeker's allowance the State loses that mechanism. There is no longer a liable relative and the State cannot recoup the money once a child turns seven.

We are also concerned about the treatment of child maintenance. If a court orders €100 to a child the State uses that to offset some of the payment to a jobseeker. The state provides €188 per week to all jobseekers, providing they comply with conditions. If a court has ordered child maintenance the State is now using this income, ordered for the benefit of a child, to offset the cost of an adult jobseeker's payment. There was legitimacy in this when the State was supporting a parent in a carer’s role, but it is questionable whether the State can use child maintenance payments to pay statutory payments to an adult.

We believe there are discriminatory aspects to the legislation which may be challenged on family status grounds. In a two-parent family on jobseeker's allowance only one parent is obliged to actively seek work. There is no obligation on the second parent to engage in work outside the house, regardless of the age of the dependent children. A one-parent family must look for work outside the home when their youngest child turns seven.

A lone parent who is also a carer will lose his or her primary social welfare payment and half-rate carer’s allowance when the youngest child turns seven. However, an adult dependent claimant of a jobseeker is entitled to keep his or her primary payment and half-rate carer’s allowance indefinitely, regardless of the age of the children or whether or not he or she even has children. Other categories of people on primary social welfare payments are entitled to keep their carer’s allowance. These include widows, deserted wives and pensioners. There seems no justification for a parent of a seven-year old to be treated differently. The State, through the homemaker's contribution scheme, supports a parent in a two-parent family for one of them to stay at home until a child is 12. A parent in a one-parent family must become a job seeker once their child turns seven. In July 2015 an estimated 39,000 families will lose their entitlement to one-parent family allowance. We believe that our families will suffer greatly if these changes proceed.

We thank the committee for the opportunity to discuss this matter and to highlight the flaws inherent in the policy.