Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The Government acknowledges that the risk of poverty, especially child poverty, tends to be higher among one parent families, larger families and those faced by long-term unemployment. This is due mainly to the direct costs of rearing children, including child care costs, and the opportunity costs related to the reduced earnings capacity of parents, arising from their care responsibilities. This applies particularly to one-parent families as the lone parent has to be the main breadwinner and carer at the same time.

One of the key tasks in the ending child poverty initiative under Sustaining Progress is to address obstacles to employment for lone parents. The senior officials group on social inclusion was mandated late in 2004 to examine this issue and report back to the Cabinet committee on social inclusion with specific proposals. A sub-group of the senior officials group examined obstacles to employment for lone parent families, with particular emphasis on income supports, employment, education, child care and support programmes and information.

As part of the process, a working group established in my Department reviewed the income support arrangements for lone parents, looking at issues including the contingency basis of the one parent family payment, co-habitation and the fact that the payment can act as a disincentive to the formation of partnerships and discourage joint parenting. As a result of this process, which included consultation with the social partners, I recently launched a major Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, which addresses the social exclusion and risk of poverty faced by many such families and their children.

The report puts forward radical proposals for reform of and improvements to the income support system for all parents on a low income. The report proposes an expanded availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents, the extension of the national employment action plan to focus on lone parents, focused provision of child care, improved information services for lone parents and the introduction of a new parental allowance for low income families with young children.

The Government has asked the senior officials group on social inclusion to draw up an implementation plan to progress the non-income recommendations of the discussion paper, including those related to child care, education, training and activation measures. Work on this has already commenced in consultation with the Departments and agencies concerned. As a follow-up to the publication of the discussion paper, I hosted a national consultative forum on 27 April 2006. This forum was attended by social partners, representatives of organisations dealing with lone parents and the unemployed, representatives of Departments and State agencies who will be responsible for the implementation of the proposals in the discussion paper and Members of the Oireachtas.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

At the forum, I heard the views of each organisation on the proposals, including their comments on the proposed parental allowance, and invited them to make formal written submissions setting out those views. The Government will listen closely to the views expressed and will give serious consideration to them. As soon as I am satisfied that we have reached conclusions that are sensible, fully workable and clearly thought out, it is my intention to bring forward proposals for legislation during the course of this year.

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