Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One of the areas on which the Minister and her colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, may have an influence is the changes the previous Government made to the one-parent allowance in 2012. At the time, many Opposition Deputies predicted that these changes, specifically the change in respect of payments to children when they reach seven years of age, would exacerbate rates of child poverty. This has been exemplified in the Silke report. In that regard, I welcome the Minister's comments on the establishment of an interdepartmental group. Are these matters being considered, including by the Minister for Social Protection? Will the fundamental issue of income be reconsidered? Some of the issues that frequently arise are savage rents that place one-parent families in danger of homelessness and the fundamental change that occurs when the child of a single parent in part-time work reaches seven years of age. The Minister is continuing with a policy change introduced by the austerity Governments that should be reversed.

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