Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on the assertion by an organisation (details supplied) that the main impacts of the reform of the one-parent family payment have been to reduce the income of lone parents in employment and to reduce the likelihood of lone parents who are not in employment, education or training take up work or education in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29009/16]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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This question relates to the views given to the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on the effect of the changes in relation to lone parents and I would like the Minister's observations.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The aim of the reforms to the one-parent family payment is to better engage with lone parents to assist in the transition from welfare into employment. Research shows that being at work reduces the at-risk-of-poverty rate for lone parents by three quarters, highlighting that the best way to tackle poverty among lone parents is to assist them into employment rather than through welfare.

Access to my Department's Intreo service is critical in achieving this outcome. Lone parents who move to jobseeker's transition or jobseeker's allowance have access to a case officer who assists them in producing a personal development plan. This tailored plan helps access appropriate education, training and employment support opportunities based on their individual circumstances and requirements.

I acknowledge that the reforms resulted in a reduction in the payments for some lone parents who were working while receiving benefits. However, the positive outcome of the reforms can be seen from the fact that 3,000 lone parents affected by the July 2015 reforms became new family income supplement, FIS, recipients last year. These lone parents have been lifted out of poverty due to a combination of earnings from work and FIS income support. FIS thresholds are such that it is not possible to be in receipt of FIS and in consistent poverty.

The latest Quarterly National Household Survey for quarter 2 of 2016 contains encouraging information in respect of employment rates by family composition. In the year commencing 1 July 2015, the number of lone parent families who were in employment increased significantly by 3.6 percentage points to 56.4% - a majority of lone parents are now working. This represents four times the increase of all adults with children in employment over the same period. Interestingly, lone parents whose youngest child is aged between six and 11 years experienced the single largest increase in employment. Over the year the percentage of these lone parents in employment increased by 7.5 percentage points to 57.2%.

These increases are based on all lone parents and reflect the increase in economic and employment growth generally. The magnitude of the increase for lone parents specifically, many of whom would have been affected by the changes of July 2015, is clearly significant and cannot be dismissed. It will take several years for the full impact of the reforms to be assessed. This is due to the fact that the various educational, training and other employment supports being taken up by lone parents on foot of the reforms will take time to complete.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. We are dealing with a cohort of people, 11% of whom are living in consistent poverty. The figure for the population as a whole is 8%. We are dealing, therefore, with a particularly poor section of the electorate. The Minister will be aware of the views of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, to which I referred in the question. He will also be aware of the conclusions contained in the Millar report, which states that the changes that have been made have had unintended consequences, that their overall effect is to reduce family income and to discourage people from engaging in activation, whether it be by way of employment, education or training and that the new rules need revision. He will further be aware of the matrix published by Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids, SPARK, an organisation representing lone parents, which clearly shows the losses that working lone parents will incur when the back-to-work family dividend runs out. Is the Minister aware that some of the organisations that represent single parents are going to run a campaign to encourage people who are in receipt of the one-parent family payment or family income supplement, FIS, and who are also working to revert from FIS to the jobseeker's transition payment when the family income dividend runs out next year? The latter will put people who are at work back into welfare dependency.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will have an opportunity to come back in. I call the Minister.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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It is obviously open to people to apply for the jobseeker's transition payment or FIS and my view is they should apply for whichever of those two payments gives them the most at the end of the week. If people do that, then that is their choice. It should be borne in mind that some people who may be working and in receipt of FIS and who then return to education apply for the jobseeker's transition payment, which they are permitted to do.

I gave the Deputy the employment statistics and they tell a story. There has been a significant increase in the percentage of lone parents who are working, an increase much greater than among the general adult population. This shows that increasing numbers of lone parents are getting jobs and that is very encouraging.

In terms of the at-risk-of-poverty rates, I am sure the Deputy is aware that the percentage of lone parents living in consistent poverty was 50% in 2006 and that the figure for 2014 was 22.1%. My strong view is that we should not revisit what has been done but, rather, that we should introduce reforms that can assist more lone parents to get into education and into work. We will achieve that not through the provision of more welfare payments but rather by means of affordable child care and better supports to get into education.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate what the Minister said. One makes a choice as to which system suits one better. However, if one makes the choice of jobseeker's transition payment as opposed to FIS, it means that one is going back from work into welfare dependency, which is the exact opposite of what the policy is supposed to be about.

The Minister is aware that single parents in receipt of rent supplement will not qualify for Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants and that - as a result of the changes introduced - single parents with children aged over 14 will only be entitled to the back-to-education allowance, whereas previously they were entitled to both the one-parent family allowance and the SUSI grant. These two issues have been identified as barriers to lone parents who want to return to the education system. Has the Minister any plans to deal with them?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Obviously, the rules relating to eligibility for the SUSI grant are a matter for the Minister for Education and Skills and his Department. That Department, with our assistance, has commissioned research examining the barriers to education for lone parents. The matter is being considered in the context of next week's budget in terms of what we can do to assist lone parents. That will involve access to education and affordable child care, it will not involve going back to more welfare.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I am going to be strict on time with all contributors on the basis that if we run over time on a question, we will push out another Member who has tabled a question.