Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste has done, it is important to put the facts of the matter on the record of the House. The purpose of the phased one family payment scheme age change reforms that were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012, is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency by ending the expectation that lone parents will remain outside the workforce indefinitely.

Prior to the reforms to the one family payment scheme, lone parents could have been on the scheme until their youngest child turned 18 years of age, or 22 years of age if they were in full-time education. The non-conditionality nature of the payment, coupled with its very long duration, engendered many lone parents and their children to long-term welfare dependency, and effectively a welfare trap. The reforms also bring the one family payment scheme more in line with international standards, including in Northern Ireland, where there is a general movement away from long-term and non-conditional income support, towards a more active engagement approach.

In 2004, at the height of the economic boom, lone parents were more than four and a half times at risk of consistent poverty compared to the population as a whole. In 2015, lone parents are two and a half times more at risk of consistent poverty compared to the rest of the population.Research shows that being at work, which is the key driver of this policy, reduces the at-risk-of-poverty rate for lone parents by three-quarters, compared to those who do not.

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