Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for his question. I take it that it concerns people in receipt of the one-parent family allowance, domiciliary care allowance and the half-rate carer's allowance in respect of a child who is turning 16 this year. Of the approximately 10,200 people currently in receipt of both the one-parent family payment and half-rate carer's allowance, approximately 390 will cease being in this position during 2025 due to the age of their youngest child. However, it is important to note that at age 16, the person for whom the half-rate carer's allowance or domiciliary care allowance was being paid becomes eligible to apply for the disability allowance in their own right. This payment rate is €244 per week compared with €360 per month for domiciliary care allowance, meaning that payments into the household will increase by over €8,400 a year. The person formerly in receipt of the one-parent family payment can move to the jobseeker’s allowance payment, which is paid at the same rate as the one-parent family payment, or, alternatively, where such a person is providing full-time care, they can apply for full-rate carer's allowance. In the latter case, the person can work 18.5 hours a week and retain the payment.

It is not necessarily the case that the family of a child who has an ongoing disability which requires their parent to provide full-time care will inevitably experience a reduction in payment. However, if there are cases where that is happening, I will certainly work with the Deputy to address that.

I should also highlight a number of changes that have been made to assist lone-parent families in recent budgets. Within the context of the programme for Government, we are looking at a range of reviews of supports for lone-parent families. We are currently preparing a work plan to implement that commitment.

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