Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate what the Minister said. One makes a choice as to which system suits one better. However, if one makes the choice of jobseeker's transition payment as opposed to FIS, it means that one is going back from work into welfare dependency, which is the exact opposite of what the policy is supposed to be about.

The Minister is aware that single parents in receipt of rent supplement will not qualify for Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants and that - as a result of the changes introduced - single parents with children aged over 14 will only be entitled to the back-to-education allowance, whereas previously they were entitled to both the one-parent family allowance and the SUSI grant. These two issues have been identified as barriers to lone parents who want to return to the education system. Has the Minister any plans to deal with them?

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