Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is obviously open to people to apply for the jobseeker's transition payment or FIS and my view is they should apply for whichever of those two payments gives them the most at the end of the week. If people do that, then that is their choice. It should be borne in mind that some people who may be working and in receipt of FIS and who then return to education apply for the jobseeker's transition payment, which they are permitted to do.

I gave the Deputy the employment statistics and they tell a story. There has been a significant increase in the percentage of lone parents who are working, an increase much greater than among the general adult population. This shows that increasing numbers of lone parents are getting jobs and that is very encouraging.

In terms of the at-risk-of-poverty rates, I am sure the Deputy is aware that the percentage of lone parents living in consistent poverty was 50% in 2006 and that the figure for 2014 was 22.1%. My strong view is that we should not revisit what has been done but, rather, that we should introduce reforms that can assist more lone parents to get into education and into work. We will achieve that not through the provision of more welfare payments but rather by means of affordable child care and better supports to get into education.

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