Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Department might have provided the figure but I ask for it again on the percentage split between lone parents who work and those who are not in work.

Ms Bayliss has made a strong argument and she has given statistics on working parents. Am I correct in saying that those who are not working will not be affected by the change? Given that the purpose of the change was to incentivise people to go to work and find jobs, has the Department seen the figures that have been presented by SPARK in that regard? It appears to be the case that a parent with one child who is working 20 hours a week would lose €50.72 per week. Does the Department accept those figures are correct? Does it also accept that if the purpose was to incentivise people to go back to work, the effect has been to hit people who are already at work? Surely that would not have been the purpose of the changes in the first place. My other question is whether people can transfer to back to education.