Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett should note that the Labour Party has taken ownership of this issue. This is our initiative. It is about helping lone parents. It would be a lot easier to do nothing. The genesis of the proposals dates from 2006 when there was a report on supporting lone parents. It was recommended that the one-parent family payment be time limited and that there be measures to facilitate lone parents moving to training, education and employment. That is where it comes from. A move towards these proposals was first announced in 2010. There was an OECD report in 2007 that stated the current system was a disincentive to lone parents working.

With regard to some of the comments made, it is quite clear that many people such as Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly probably do not know the detail of the changes. When the Deputy talked about an example in his constituency, he never mentioned the person's entitlement to the back-to-work dividend. I wonder whether he has advised his constituent about this entitlement. In many cases for people on family income supplement, the back-to-work dividend compensates in full for the 40% loss in the one-parent family payment. Sometimes, there is even a gain.

The risk of poverty is 40% for lone parents who are not working. Their income will not change after these changes. Some of the people who will be affected are in receipt of family income supplement. They are at the least risk of poverty, at a rate of 10%. Family income supplement and the back-to-work dividend are very much based on the number of children one has. The more children one has, the more support one receives. The two payments are child focused. The minimum net income a lone parent with three children will have after the changes will be just under €580 per week. If one compares this to the average wage, one will find that the latter, after tax, payment of the universal social charge and so on, is the equivalent.

With regard to a lone parent with one child on family income supplement and in receipt of the back-to-work dividend, the net income of €400 which starts from an income of €165, the minimum wage, is equivalent to €35 at the ICTU and SIPTU supported living wage. These are the supports that are available.

We should all be advising and supporting those who are working fewer than 19 hours. It is not desirable that people should be cleaning in a school for ten hours per week for the rest of their lives. Such people will be assisted by the Department under these changes to be given more hours or a better job and to receive any education and training they need.

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