Mr. R?n?n Hession:

The current position is that the Government is working towards a living wage so there are many different dynamics involved.

I was before the committee previously talking about the strawman on pay-related benefit. There is a proposal for that working family payment model to be applied more generally. I am not referring to lone parent payments, to clarify. The threshold approach gives a lot more flexibility. People can find the threshold for their family composition and get 60% in the difference. It is a bit more consistent and flexible for someone who is combining work and welfare.

I agree with the Cathaoirleach on the employment outcomes. To some extent, if we look at the figures from the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, or international figures, Ireland is much more reliant on income transfers to address poverty than other countries. The social welfare system does a lot of the heavy lifting to bridge the gaps in market inequality and income inequality. Employment participation is part of that, as are other services. We have a pile of projects in the north east of the country at the moment in partnership with One Family Ireland and using European funding. Similar projects are being run in Finland and Greece. We are trying to look at what works for lone parents. As a Department, our blind spot is structuring systems around what we can administer and what works. We must ask what works from the lone parents' point of view. We are working through that. We have had good engagement and great co-operation from One Family Ireland. The outcome will be interesting. Because it is being done in three different countries, there is a chance for us to share homework and see how it works out.