Mr. Niall Egan:

The reforms to the one-parent family payment were first announced in 2010 and the first reforms were introduced in 2011. Subsequent reforms were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012. These reforms reduced the one-parent family payment qualifying age of the youngest child on a phased basis. The final phase will see the maximum age under the one-parent family payment scheme being reduced to seven years for all recipients from 2 July 2015. As a result of this change, once a recipient’s youngest child reaches the new age limit, they will no longer be entitled to the one-parent family payment. Should they still have an income need, they will transition to another social welfare income support payment appropriate to their circumstances, for example family income supplement or the new jobseeker’s allowance transitional arrangement, which was introduced specifically for one-parent families in June 2013.

There are two exemptions to these changes. The first is for lone parents who are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance for one of their children. They will continue to be entitled to one-parent family payment until that child’s 16th birthday. The second exemption is for those who are recently bereaved. In these circumstances the one-parent family payment will be payable for two years from the date of death of the spouse, civil partner or co-habitant or until the youngest child reaches age 18, whichever occurs first. It is anticipated that approximately 30,200 customers will transition on 2 July 2015. As has happened every July since 2013, affected lone parents will be contacted by their local Intreo office inviting them to attend detailed information sessions. At these sessions, lone parents will be briefed by departmental staff on their income support, training, education and employment support options and advised, on a case-by-case basis, as to the best available option for them.

In order to help lone parents with young children who are affected by this reform the Government introduced the jobseeker’s allowance transitional arrangement. Under this arrangement, lone parents whose youngest child is aged between seven and 13 are exempt from having to be available for and genuinely seeking full-time employment. No lone parent with a child under 14 years of age will be required to take up employment in order to receive income support from the Department.

We estimate that approximately two thirds of the 30,000 cohort who will be affected will move into this payment.

All jobseeker's allowance transition arrangement customers will have access to the Intreo services and will be given an opportunity, for the first time, to develop a personal development plan with an Intreo case officer. This will enable them to gain enhanced access to educational and employment supports. Individuals on the jobseeker's allowance transitional arrangement can move into employment, including part-time employment, if they wish, however, there is no requirement to do so in order to get the payment. The jobseeker's allowance transitional arrangement thereby allows these customers to balance their caring responsibilities with progression into the active labour market. I wish to bring to the committee's attention the fact that the Social Welfare Bill 2015, which was published today, will, if enacted, make the jobseeker's allowance transition arrangement available to all new lone parents, whereas previously one must have been formerly a recipient of the one-parent family payment.

There are a wide range of other options available to lone parents, including, for example, the combination of family income supplement and the new back to work family dividend in situations where the parents work more than 19 hours per week. These will be explained to lone parents at the information session, which have already commenced in some parts of the country. It is important that lone parents attend these information sessions in order to receive the best information and advice available given their individual circumstances.

I want to take issue with a comment made about the lack of planning in the Department. This reform, as I acknowledged, has been on the tracks since 2010 and in its current guise since 2012. The Department has been working from July two years ago in terms of the previous transitions and almost 11,000 people have made the transition to date. As part of that reform, we have always engaged with lone parent representative groups. We have a good working relationship with them. We continuously brief them on new changes and amendments and on the impact they will have. We have asked them to pass that information on to one-parent families. We are always available. I have attended and responded to requests for briefing session from representative groups, but I stress that the work at the local level during the past two years is key to why this reform has gone the way it has gone to date. That comes down to the work of the local Intreo offices whose officers have gone out and ensured that lone parents attend the office and where they did not attend, they followed up by way of telephone calls and brought them in on a one-to-one basis to inform them of what is happening and what are the best options available to them.

I hope I have given the committee an insight into the steps Department is taking to streamline and improve services and employment outcomes for lone parents. We are very happy to take any questions members may have.