Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is absolutely no change in their payments. The reason the changes are being brought in is to give parents, when their child reaches seven years of age, a six-year transition period to enable them, in particular, to become involved in education or training with a view to being able get employment when their children are older and in second level education, because the best route out of poverty is for somebody to get employment. I reiterate that there is no impact on the vast majority of lone parents who have family caring commitments to their children and are caring for their children on a full-time basis. Parents tell me all the time that they would like to be able to go back to work but to do that they need, in particular, to be able to get education and training and then get a better-paying job. That has the single biggest impact in terms of improving their family income situation and the situation for their children. That is the purpose of the changes, it is to make things better for people.

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