Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The Cabinet cleared the discussion document which we published. We have had a number of discussions recently on my proposals. The legislation is being prepared in the Department. The implementation group is doing its work as we speak and I hope the tests can start this year. The tests are to assess in an urban and rural setting how the new payment might work. This involves removing the cohabitation regulation, abolishing the lone parent payment and replacing it with a family friendly payment for low income families. An enormous amount of technical work must be done to ensure the schemes add up and are integrated, and that work is progressing. I hope the legislation can be advanced as soon as possible.

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