Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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33. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the lone parent barriers to education report will be published. [34876/16]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I ask again about the report on the barriers to education for lone parents. My understanding was that this report was meant to be published at the end of August. I ask the Minister when it is going to be published.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The programme for Government contains a commitment to commission an independent examination to identify the supports and barriers to accessing higher education for lone parents and to examine measures to increase participation. In line with this commitment, my Department engaged a multidisciplinary team in NUI Maynooth to undertake the independent review. The review is being overseen by a steering committee comprising officials from my Department and from the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, as well as the Higher Education Authority.

The review is examining existing data and describing the supports that are currently available for lone parents, with a view to identifying the specific challenges faced by lone parents in accessing higher education. The intention is to identify measures and best practice that will address those challenges in the future. The review is currently being finalised. It is a complex policy area that involves three Government Departments. Given the complexity of the issues involved, it is expected that the review will be completed before the end of the year.

However, the review was sufficiently progressed to inform policy decisions by the relevant Departments in budget 2017. In that context, I secured additional funding to support more lone parents to participate in higher education. This new funding will be used to respond to the recommendations contained in the review. This is as part of the additional €36.5 million funding for higher education that my Department received.

The additional funding I received for lone parents in budget 2017 will be complemented by measures announced by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, to assist lone parents to return to education. These measures include the reintroduction of the €500 annual cost of education allowance for parents, including lone parents. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is also introducing a programme of affordable child care which will be of significant help to lone parents who are using child care and accessing higher education.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his response but I dread to hear the word review, because it seems to me to be a stalling tactic used to kick the can down the road. I would prefer to hear a date for that report. The Minister says the review will be completed at the end of this year, but I ask for a specific date for that report. Parents in lone-parent families are struggling. An EU standards of living report published in 2014 clearly showed that 59% of lone parent families struggle and experience material deprivation. This is an issue that we need to tackle head on and we need that report published, not just the review completed. The report must be published because we cannot have families struggling to get by on a daily basis in 2016.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As I said, the report will be published before the end of the year. I understand that there are serious data weaknesses in actually gathering information in relation to lone parents. That has been one thing that hampered it. This has not been kicked down the road in the sense that we have made concrete decisions already. Not only did my Department allocate extra money, but the Minister for social protection allocated €500 cash to support lone parents particularly in the back-to-education provision. In addition, the provision for child care represents an investment of up to €8,000 per year for people on low income. Again, that is accessible to lone parents who want to participate in education. There are concrete actions being implemented that I hope will meet a lot of the needs to bring forward more lone parents to participate in third level.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Again, I emphasise the importance of this issue. We need to tackle it. It is vital to ensure successful outcomes for lone parents and their children, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. They are disadvantaged because society has made them disadvantaged through cuts to social welfare and everything else. We need a greater level of support. We need a greater commitment. We do not need mention of reviews and reports all of time, we need more action. The Action Plan for Education is silent on this very issue. I very much hope the upcoming report will make some significant recommendations and that it will ensure that appropriate actions on this issue take place.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is demanding action and I am outlining that actions have been taken. They have been taken and will be implemented this year. They are of significant value. That €500 cash for someone participating in back to education is a real benefit and it allows people to get access to resources, books and so on to allow them to participate more fully. The programme of child care support is now something that has been instated as a permanent feature. It is quality child care that goes right up to the age of 15 for the child in question.

That is a real change in policy that will sustain, in particular, lone parents who are on low incomes. The Department of Education and Skills is setting aside scholarship opportunities that will encourage the participation of lone parents who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have a solid programme of action but that is not to say we cannot do more. We can do more and we will welcome the report and seek to build it into future budgeting.