Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The number of recipients of one-parent family payment, OFP, stood at 89,905 on 2 June 2012. This year, the cost of the OFP scheme is estimated at €1.06 billion, and child benefit payments to such families cost approximately a further €246 million. Between now and 2015, the consequences of the changes to the OFP scheme, as outlined in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012, will be examined on a cross-departmental basis in order to ensure that the required service levels are in place to support lone parents as their youngest children reach the relevant age thresholds. As part of this examination, discussions are taking place between officials from the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs - which is the lead Department on child care policy and provision - and the Department of Education and Skills with regard to the development of a policy framework for school-age child care. An interdepartmental group, chaired by my Department and comprising representatives from both the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Education and Skills, was recently established and is assessing the requirement for and provision of school-age child care, focusing initially on the needs of lone parents.

See this speech in context