Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last Tuesday I announced in my Second Stage address on the Social Welfare Bill that I was proposing to amend the July arrangements for lone parents to ensure lone parents with a youngest child between the ages of 7 and 16 years who were providing full-time care for another person would be able to retain entitlement, or apply for entitlement, to the one-parent family payment and the half rate carer’s allowance. These arrangements are identical to the current provisions where a one-parent family payment recipient is providing full-time care for a child in respect of whom a domiciliary care allowance is in payment. I am proposing no further changes to the July measures.

Notwithstanding the strong welfare supports given to lone parents during the years, the results have been disappointing in poverty alleviation terms, with some lone parents remaining on the payment for up to 18 years or even longer if they have a number of children. We know that it is important to provide lone parents with educational training and employment supports to enable those parenting on their own to reach their full potential. This means that as their children get older, we should focus on developing their skills to help them to secure employment or set up a business.

Since the one-parent family payment reforms began, approximately 11,000 people have transitioned to alternative income support payments. In the past two years we have seen an increase in the number of applications for family income supplement from lone parents moving to employment. This is evidence of the positive impact of the reforms. Other customers who transition from the one-parent family payment to a jobseeker's allowance payment gain access to education, training and employment programmes, including the new back to work family dividend which is is worth €30 per child per week, to assist them to move into sustainable employment. This involves engaging with one of the Department's case officers who will assist lone parents to produce a personal development plan and work with them to progress it. This is a significant step as it is the first time that this group of customers will have access to an active engagement with the Department's case officers.

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