Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

As the Senator is probably aware, last year's Government discussion paper, which I think we discussed in this House, was entitled Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents. It contained proposals for an expanded availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents. It recommended the extension of the national employment action plan to focus on lone parents, focusing on the provision of child care in particular as well as on providing improved information services for lone parents, and the introduction of a new social assistance payment for low-income families with young children. That discussion document also proposed the abolition of the cohabitation rule as a condition for receipt of the proposed new social assistance payment. The Senator will recall that one of the document's proposals was that the upper income limit for the new payment, instead of the lone parent payment, should be set at €400 per week. In the 2006 budget, the Minister for Finance and I increased the upper income limit on the one-parent family payment from €293 to €375 per week, and in the recent budget we completed this process by bringing the limit to €400 per week. Provision for this is contained in this legislation. This is a commitment towards the recommendations in the report.

The new payment that has been developed by officials in the Department will have the long-term aim of assisting people to achieve financial independence by supporting them to enter employment. It will replace the lone parent payment and will be based on low-income families, irrespective of their make-up. Whether children reside in low- income families that consist of two or more people will be irrelevant. The only measure will be that the children are part of a low-income family. Work in this regard is progressing well and the development of legislation is being prioritised in the Department.

The various groups involved asked me to ensure that when we progress with this new legislation, we move in parallel on other issues such as child care, health care provision, education and training provision, and so on. They wanted these other areas to be addressed simultaneously so there will be integration and joined-up Government when all this clicks into place. We agreed to this, and the senior officials group on social inclusion has been instructed to draw up an implementation plan and is doing so.

In the meantime, the Department, with the co-operation of FÁS, the Office of the Minister for Children and the Department of Education and Science, has agreed with the Government that the proposals should be tested in urban and rural settings. The tests will focus on identifying and resolving the practical and administrative issues that may arise in advance of the scheme being introduced and will allow for logistical and operational co-ordination to be planned.

Deputy Penrose rightly pointed out in the Dáil that when we introduce this legislation, we must be certain it does not create unintended welfare or poverty gaps. A way to ensure this is to press ahead with these tests in urban and rural settings with the results informing the finalisation of the drafting of the legislation.

I am disappointed that I could not have brought this legislation before the House sooner but it is too important to be rushed to meet political deadlines. Many years of good work were spent on the preparation of the report by the social inclusion committee, officials of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Combat Poverty Agency and all the agencies, and a senior officials group is now driving it ahead. This fundamental reform will see legislation in the course of 2007 and whoever has the honour to serve in Government will press ahead with it. Pending that legislation, we have made substantial progress by moving to the limit of €400 recommended in the report that permits lone parents to engage in employment and training and to develop quality employment for themselves.

We have come some distance on this matter and thanks to Opposition parties and the media, this did not turn into a political football, as is possible in the sensitive area of lone parents. I am convinced this legislation will be passed by both Houses in due course. In the meantime, we have made solid changes in the recent budget that help lone parents greatly.