Dáil debates

Thursday, 1 March 2007

3:00 pm

Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 47 of 14 December 2006, if he has brought forward proposals and an implementation strategy on the lone parent proposals for the Government's consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7980/07]

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he expects to complete his consideration of the proposed new package of reforms of State aid for lone parents; when he expects to bring forward specific proposals; if such proposals will be included in his budget package; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7910/07]

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 166: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 47 of 14 December 2006, if he has brought forward proposals and an implementation strategy on the lone parent proposals for the Government's consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8201/07]

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 60 and 166 together.

Last year's Government discussion paper, "Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents," put forward proposals for the expanded availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents, the extension of the national employment action plan to focus on lone parents, focused provision of child care; improved information services for lone parents and the introduction of a new social assistance payment for low income families with young children. The paper also proposed the abolition of the cohabitation rule as a condition for receipt of the proposed social assistance payment.

One of the proposals in the report was that the upper income limit for the new social assistance payment should be set at €400 per week. Last year, in budget 2006, I increased the upper income limits on the one-parent family payment from €293 to €375 per week, moving a substantial way towards this limit. In this year's budget, I completed this element of the proposal by increasing the upper income limit for the one-parent family payment to €400 per week, provision of which is contained in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007 currently before the House.

The new social assistance payment, currently being developed by officials in my Department, will have the long-term aim of assisting people to achieve financial independence through supporting them to enter employment — the avenue that offers the best route out of poverty. Any proposed new payment can only be introduced when the necessary co-ordinated supports and services are put in place by other Departments and agencies. This is why the Government has instructed the senior officials group on social inclusion to draw up an implementation plan to progress the non-income recommendations in tandem with the development of the legislation required in my Department to introduce a new payment scheme.

Work on the development of this implementation plan is progressing. Issues including access to child care support, education, training and activation measures are being discussed with the relevant Departments and agencies. The development of legislation to introduce the new social assistance payment has been prioritised in my Department and work on this is at an advanced stage. To further inform the process, my Department, with the co-operation of FÁS, the Office of the Minister for Children and the Department of Education and Science, will test the proposals in both an urban and rural setting. These tests will focus on identifying and resolving the practical and administrative issues that might arise in advance of the scheme being introduced. The tests will allow for operational and logistical co-ordination between the relevant Departments and agencies to be considered and developed and will facilitate the development of the new scheme.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Minister provided us with a great deal of new information.

Photo of Séamus KirkSéamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Before the Deputy proceeds I remind him that there is a time limit of one minute each for supplementary questions and the Minister's replies.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister brought any proposals and an implementation strategy to the Government for its consideration? Can the Minister give a timescale for the action he outlined to happen? We were led to believe it would happen by the end of last year but it did not. Can he give us more information about the tests he mentioned? What does he mean by tests? Will people be involved in them and when will they happen?

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Cabinet cleared the discussion document which we published. We have had a number of discussions recently on my proposals. The legislation is being prepared in the Department. The implementation group is doing its work as we speak and I hope the tests can start this year. The tests are to assess in an urban and rural setting how the new payment might work. This involves removing the cohabitation regulation, abolishing the lone parent payment and replacing it with a family friendly payment for low income families. An enormous amount of technical work must be done to ensure the schemes add up and are integrated, and that work is progressing. I hope the legislation can be advanced as soon as possible.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Will the Department or FÁS be responsible for the activation measures on work advice and education and training opportunities? Has a decision been made on that?

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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FÁS will do it. Does the Deputy mean when we move to the new payment?

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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We will use the activation process that FÁS has already. That is the present intention.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Will there be changes?

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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This is rehearsed in the lone parents document. It is suggested in that document that there would be more facilitators, who would work alongside FÁS in giving advice to lone parents who wish to get back into the workplace. FÁS would have a central role. Whether we can develop other facilitators alongside it is one of the issues being examined by the implementation group.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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This was discussed in great detail at a big meeting in Farmleigh. Various organisations dealing with lone parents, as well as the Labour Party, put forward their proposals. Emanating from this, what steps are being taken to put in place adequate child care provision to enable the core of lone parents to return to work? It will only be pie in the sky unless child care provision, preferably community-based, is put in place that is cheap, efficient and effective.

The regiment for FÁS training programme will have to change to enable people to get to work. Schemes will have to take place at 8 o'clock in the morning or in the evening at 4 o'clock to facilitate people.

Deputies:

Does the Deputy have a question?

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Yes, that is the question. We have 18 minutes and three questions are being taken together.

Deputies:

It is actually two as one of them is a written question.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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The Ceann Comhairle always allows us to debate the question. This is an important topic. I will not be stifled by people telling me what to do.

Is the Minister aware that his proposal would create new poverty traps? Is he happy with that? Unless the Minister deals with the question of poverty traps and child care, he can tear up the proposals. The cohabitation rule should be scrapped. Too many inspectors are used by the Department of Social and Family Affairs knocking on doors checking welfare recipients. No matter how often we tell them particular situations arise, they still carry out their investigations. Will the issues raised at Farmleigh be addressed? We knew anyway that we would not see it this side of an election.

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputies know this is a complicated area. The Government's policy is clear in that it is committed to removing the cohabitation rule, replacing the lone parent's allowance with an allowance that is targeted at children who live in low income families rather than focussing on the make-up of a family. That principle is generally supported across the House. We are working on the logistics because it will have implications for other schemes and supports.

Lone parent groups have made it clear to me that they are only interested in this provided there is joined-up Government and that child care, educational, training and activation supports are implemented at the same time. The implementation group has been charged with the task of ensuring these other supports are introduced in tandem. I am confident that whoever is appointed Minister after the next election, he or she will see these reforms through. These proposals have been examined for many years. I did not invent them but I gave them a push. They are grounded in good research and sensible policies.

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister accept that low-paid jobs are not necessarily a good way for lone parents to take their families out of poverty? Part of the problem is down to the quality of jobs they are offered. I have been informed that lone parents under this scheme would be given priority access to county child care committees. However, there is no system in place in prioritising these committees. Is this part of the work to be done in the next several months?

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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There will be some degree of priority for lone parents. The statistics show that poverty is more prevalent among lone parents.

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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There is no protocol to prioritise one group.

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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We must ensure they are fully informed of this option. As poverty is more prevalent among lone parents, they would have substantial priority in the child care area. Other measures already exist, such as the extra €1,000 payment, and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has increased the number of child care places available.

I am concerned that the quality of jobs available to lone parents needs to be improved. Two thirds of lone parents are working but in jobs that pay a little above the minimum wage. This is why these reforms are being introduced. Training and educational supports will increase lone parents' skills. With more child care provision, they will be able to come up on the employment ladder and get better quality jobs.