Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Since taking office, the Tánaiste has made eight separate cuts to the one-parent family payment. Across the State, over 30,000 lone parents are receiving letters from her Department. As their youngest children turn seven, they are being taken off the one-parent family payment with the result that thousands will see their weekly incomes fall. Of these parents, 6,400 are set to lose up to €36.50 per week while an unknown number of working parents will lose as much as €87 per week. These are real people who are struggling to get by, yet the Tánaiste is pushing them into poverty.

Let me tell the Tánaiste about Mandy. Mandy is the parent of three children whose partner died a number of years ago. She works in a low-paid job and receives the one-parent family payment. She is not eligible for the family income supplement because she only gets 14 hours work per week. She has asked her employer for more hours, but has been refused. Last week, Mandy received written confirmation that, as her son has turned seven, she will be moved to jobseeker's allowance in July. As a result, her weekly income will be cut by €87, which is a 20% drop. I remind the Tánaiste that when she introduced this change in 2012, she said it was dependant on there being a system of safe, affordable and accessible child care in place similar to what is found in Scandinavian countries. Does the Tánaiste remember saying that? She said she would only proceed with these measures to reduce the upper age limit to seven years in the event that she got a credible and bankable commitment of such a system of child care by the time of the budget. She said that if that was not forthcoming, the measure would not proceed.

There is no Scandinavian child care system available to Mandy or the thousands of other lone parents whose incomes the Tánaiste is going to cut this July. Why is the Tánaiste punishing Mandy and thousands of parents like her? Why is the Tánaiste forcing her three children and many other children into poverty? Why is the Tánaiste taking money from the pockets and food from the tables of some of the poorest families in the State? In light of her Government's failure to deliver a Scandinavian child care system, will the Tánaiste honour her commitment of 2012 not to proceed with the cuts to the one-parent family payment?

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