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

The final phase of the reform will take place on 2 July 2015 when it is anticipated that approximately 29,400 one family payment recipients, whose youngest child is seven or over, will be transitioning out of the one family payment scheme to the jobseeker's transitional payment, the job seeker's allowance, and the family income supplement.

The gain for individuals will be in the range of €10 to €150 per week, depending on their level of earnings and the number of children they have. The remaining 10,000 lone parents who are in employment and based on no change to their circumstances will suffer an income loss. This occurs as they are already in receipt of FIS or they will transition to a jobseeker's payment where the means test is less generous than the one family payment means test.

However, from this group of 10,000 approximately 6,000 will have an incentive to increase their number of hours worked in order to claim FIS and the back-to-work family dividend. These individuals will then be financially better off than their current position. The dividend is worth €1,550 per child in the first year, reducing to a 50% entitlement worth €775 pere child in the second year.

The positive impact of this incentive has been evident from the increase in new FIS applications from lone parents who were affected by the reforms in both July 2013 and July 2014. This indicates that many transitioning lone parents have increased their hours of employment in order to become FIS customers. This year to date, at least 1,250 lone parents are new FIS recipients and will gain as a result of claiming FIS for the first time.

It is important to put the facts and figures on the record of the House in order to have a more fully informed debate.

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