Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply but I do not feel it will ease fully the worries of the more than 215,000 single-parent families in this State who are not seeing the benefits of this scheme and who are fearful. There are parents, predominantly women, who feel they are at risk of being forced to forgo work or education because of the potential impacts of the national childcare scheme on existing support schemes for single parents. According to Single Parents Acting For Rights of Kids, SPARK, lone-parent families could face losses of up to €350 per month through the loss of these schemes. The schemes are invaluable in helping lone parents to work or upskill and in helping them to fall into welfare dependency.

With the greatest respect, the Department allowing people to stay on their existing schemes until August 2020 if they are not better off is equivalent to admitting that some people may be much worse off as a result of the introduction of the national childcare scheme. That measure is actually elevating fears rather than easing them. I fear that, while the scheme will potentially benefit 95% of parents, it will have a negative impact and possibly awful repercussions on the other 5% and will push them deeper into poverty. Will the Minister outline how the level of subsidies under the scheme will not have a negative impact on such families?

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