Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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10. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, 2013, which was published earlier this year and clearly shows that those persons living in households with one adult and one or more children had the highest deprivation rate at 63.2% and the highest consistent poverty rate at 23%, and the measures she will take to remove these families from this crisis. [33026/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Research shows that being at work reduces the poverty rate for lone parents by three quarters, or 75%, compared to people who do not work. A recent study for the Department shows that lone parent families are particularly vulnerable to living in jobless households. A key way to tackle poverty then is to get parents back to work. The ongoing one-parent family payment reforms and the new back to work family dividend - which I introduced in last year's budget - will support parents to take-up and remain in employment, especially people who are the furthest from the labour market.

I have long been concerned about the high levels of poverty experienced by lone parent families, including the children in those families. In 2013, lone parent families had consistent poverty rates over two and a half times those of the general population. This is a consistent trend over time. Indeed, in 2004, when the country was pretty much in the middle of the boom, the consistent poverty rate for lone parents was more than four and a half times that of the general population.

Social transfers play a very important role in reducing income poverty for lone parent families. In 2013, social transfers excluding pensions lifted almost a quarter of the population out of income poverty. This is equivalent to a poverty reduction effect of 60% and is the best outcome in that regard in the EU.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The Government is committed to tackling poverty and continue to improve access to the labour market for lone parents. I am confident that these measures will continue to improve income and living standards, and will be reflected in future poverty statistics.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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Rather than hailing the change to lone parent benefits, working lone parents are actually not benefiting from the change to the lone parent payment, which is an indictment of the policy of this Government and is part of the austerity package that has been persistently implemented in this country. Those who need the most are bearing the brunt of austerity.

We have got through nine and a half questions in an hour and a quarter. Nobody on this side of the House really extended his or her time.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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This is a regular occurrence because people will not adhere to the rules.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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People expend a lot of time and energy try to put these questions.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy was lucky to get in at all.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Poverty is something we must fight against and work to eliminate, which is what the Government and I are doing. The critical way to help people out of poverty is to get them into employment and to get good jobs. This is why we will be raising the minimum wage. I know it does not affect a huge number of people but it affects about 75,000 people in work. I hope that we will also look in the budget at ways of making things better for families with children, regardless of whether they are two or one-parent families - whatever kind of families they are. In particular, we are looking at ways of helping people who have retired.