Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 60 and 166 together.

Last year's Government discussion paper, "Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents," put forward proposals for the 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 social assistance payment for low income families with young children. The paper also proposed the abolition of the cohabitation rule as a condition for receipt of the proposed social assistance payment.

One of the proposals in the report was that the upper income limit for the new social assistance payment should be set at €400 per week. Last year, in budget 2006, I increased the upper income limits on the one-parent family payment from €293 to €375 per week, moving a substantial way towards this limit. In this year's budget, I completed this element of the proposal by increasing the upper income limit for the one-parent family payment to €400 per week, provision of which is contained in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007 currently before the House.

The new social assistance payment, currently being developed by officials in my Department, will have the long-term aim of assisting people to achieve financial independence through supporting them to enter employment — the avenue that offers the best route out of poverty. Any proposed new payment can only be introduced when the necessary co-ordinated supports and services are put in place by other Departments and agencies. This is why the Government has instructed the senior officials group on social inclusion to draw up an implementation plan to progress the non-income recommendations in tandem with the development of the legislation required in my Department to introduce a new payment scheme.

Work on the development of this implementation plan is progressing. Issues including access to child care support, education, training and activation measures are being discussed with the relevant Departments and agencies. The development of legislation to introduce the new social assistance payment has been prioritised in my Department and work on this is at an advanced stage. To further inform the process, my Department, with the co-operation of FÁS, the Office of the Minister for Children and the Department of Education and Science, will test the proposals in both an urban and rural setting. These tests will focus on identifying and resolving the practical and administrative issues that might arise in advance of the scheme being introduced. The tests will allow for operational and logistical co-ordination between the relevant Departments and agencies to be considered and developed and will facilitate the development of the new scheme.

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