Ms Louise Bayliss:

Yes. There were not many questions for us because we just raised the issues. Deputy Ryan asked whether non-working lone parents are being affected. They are not being financially affected. However, there are traps in that regard because working lone parents are being forced out of the labour market. Those who are trying to get in will find it harder. They are not being impacted financially but the work will not pay for it, so many people will be affected.

Deputy Catherine Byrne raised the question about the back to education allowance. There have been changes to that. She spoke about education being the way out. Once people lose their one parent family allowance, they are not guaranteed that they will go onto the back to education allowance. Also, they are not entitled to a Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant when they lose their one parent family allowance. The point we were trying to make was that from July, a lone parent who loses their allowance when their child reaches the age of seven will now lose €45 a week. That would not have been the case this time last year.

There are difficulties for parents who wish to get back to education and those already in education are seeking to drop out of education, because they will be unable to afford it after July. I believe Ms Leah Speight has one point to make.