Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 12 November 2020

Public Accounts Committee

2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 – Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 4 – Control over Welfare Payments

11:30 am

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to touch on the issue of the one-parent family payment. Mr. McKeon is aware of recent media reports regarding the experiences of some claimants of that payment. Does the Department have any plans to review the operation of that scheme? I come from a family that relied on that payment for several years. I know of cases, some of which involve very close friends of mine, where relationships did not start or broke up at an early stage because of pressure applied by the Department. I am not saying it is a widespread issue but I am aware of instances where the Department let it be known very quickly that there would be a financial penalty if a relationship were to develop. That financial threat hanging over those people forced them into a cycle in terms of the circumstances they were in. Does the Department plan to carry out a review of the operation of that payment?

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