Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The one-parent family payment is the income support scheme for separated, unmarried and widowed persons and also for prisoners' spouses bringing up a child or children without the support of a partner. At the end of December 2005, the total number of one-parent family recipients being paid by my Department was 83,066, including 906 widowed persons. Under the scheme, lone parents are encouraged to maximise their income from different sources and the means test for this scheme provides for the exemption of significant levels of earnings and maintenance payments.

Following a review of the arrangements for administering the scheme, it was decided that services should in future be provided through my Department's local offices. The primary aim of providing services at local level is to improve customer service by reducing claim processing times through closer linkage with the local officer network. This also brings lone parents into direct contact with my Department's employment support services.

My Department processes new applications for the one-parent family payment at 36 social welfare local offices. The benefits of administering these claims at local level are already evident as the average processing time for claim applications has dropped from 16 weeks to an average of seven weeks since the change. Some 17,000 claims for the one-parent family payment are received each year — equivalent to 330 per week on average.

As part of the preparations for moving the administration of the one-parent family payment scheme to local level, some 44,000 one-parent family payment customers who prior to this were paid by means of an order book will, from the middle of this month, collect their payment in post offices by using their social services card. Under this system, the payment should be collected by close of business on the Tuesday following the Thursday payday. If the payment is not collected by then contact should be made with the Department. If the customer has been unable to collect the payment, for instance due to illness, work commitments, holidays etc., arrangements are made to have the payment reissued.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

This payment method has been in operation for certain one-parent families for some years. Approximately 6,000 one-parent family payment customers receive their payment weekly using this payment method and they are generally satisfied with the arrangement.

My Department has written to each lone parent customer advising him or her of the change of payment method. In addition, a meeting took place with lone parent representative associations at which the matter was discussed. Although existing customers on this payment method are satisfied with the system, I have asked my officials to review the situation regarding the period for collection of these payments with a view to extending it if possible. Any customer having difficulty with collecting the payment every week can contact the one-parent family payment section in the pension services office in Sligo which provides advice on a range of other payment options.

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