Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank the Taoiseach's nominees for bringing forward this motion on an important issue that needs to be fully discussed. We are all well aware that the one-parent family payment scheme has played an important role in providing income support to parents who are parenting alone. However, even with this support lone parents still tend to experience high rates of consistent poverty, which makes it evident that the one-parent family payment only is not sufficient to lift people out of poverty. Throughout the Celtic tiger period lone parents still suffered a high rate of poverty. As stated by the Minister, the figure in this regard was four and half times that of the population as a whole.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, back to the House. None of us would argue with the fact that the best route out of poverty and social exclusion is through employment and education. There is no doubt but that education is the key to well paid employment, which is the reason when I spoke earlier today, I raised with the Minister of State, Deputy Humphreys, the introduction of back-to-education transitional arrangements in conjunction with the jobseeker's allowance transitional arrangement for those wishing to return to education. As I outlined earlier today, a lone parent in receipt of the one-parent family payment who chooses to return to education is eligible for a third level registration and maintenance grant. However, if such person transfers to the back-to-education allowance he or she while eligible for a grant in respect of the registration fee is not eligible for a maintenance grant, which would be essential to their continuing in education. I am delighted to note from the Minister's speech that this matter has been addressed and there is no restriction on people on the jobseeker's transitional arrangement accessing a full third level grant to cover registration and maintenance fees.

It is true that rearing children on one's own is far more difficult than rearing children with a partner or husband. Even in situations where there are two parents involved it is a constant struggle to provide child care, with often one parent working while the other cares for the children. In some cases, one parent goes out to work when the other comes home so that at all stages there is somebody in the family home to care for the children. This is an impossibility for those parenting alone, be such person a single parent, separated parent, a widow or a widower. The perception of some people is that a lone parent is a young girl who became pregnant and was left to bring up a child on her own. This is not always the case. In many cases, couples are happily married only for something to go wrong and the marriage breaks down, leaving one parent to rear the children on his or her own. In other cases, a parent dies and again the other parent has to rear the children on his or her own.I welcome the fact a general move has been made towards helping lone parents through activation because while on the OPFP, they do not receive the help and support someone who is unemployed gets, that is, incentives and encouragement to take up employment. Many lone parents have returned to work through necessity to have a higher income coming into the house but it was never through being encouraged by the Department or through any activation measures supplied or supported by the Department. I am glad the Minister is recognising the needs of lone parents and the Department is offering them the same service available to others in receipt of unemployment payments.

All the new arrangements being put in place to transfer lone parents to the jobseeker's allowance and, for the first time, to devise a personal development plan with the Intreo office are welcome. These will be of great benefit to those who are unemployed. However, some of those who are currently employed will, unfortunately, by hit financially, as the disregard will no longer be in place, which means they will have a lower income. We should examine ways to help this cohort of lone parents in order that they will not be worse off financially. They activated themselves and found work and then balanced work and family life. It is important that lone parents in receipt of FIS and who may not be due for renewal of their payment until perhaps December this year or early next year be reviewed with immediate effect following the changes with a view to increasing their FIS payment due to loss of income.

The transition to jobseeker's allowance has been taking place over the past year or two years and many lone parents have transitioned. Will the Minister clarify whether there is a follow up on maintenance once they transfer? Over the past number of weeks while we debated the Child and Family Relationships Bill in the House, much emphasis was placed on the fact that it is better to have two parents to raise a child, that is, a mother and a father. However, I have heard no mention of the other parent during this debate, which could be either the father or the mother, otherwise known as the liable relative, although this is predominantly the father. I received figures from the CSO which highlight that 87% of lone parents are mothers. Time after time in discussions I have with the public, the issue of the father comes up and his responsibility to his child or, in most cases, his lack of responsibility. It is easy for a man to walk away from his responsibility and leave the woman holding the baby. I acknowledge a percentage of men are exceptionally good and they are greatly involved in their children's upbringing and financially support them but, unfortunately, they are in a minority. Will the Minister clarify if having transferred to the jobseeker's transitional arrangement that the Department will pursue the liable relative for maintenance, as the other parent has a duty of care to his or her child or children both physically and financially?

The underlying factor in lone parents remaining in the poverty trap is the lack of accessibility to affordable child care. Child care costs are so high that it is not an option for these parents. Lone parents who work are more likely to be in low paid jobs, partly as a result of a lack of qualifications and partly because of the difficulty in accessing affordable child care. We need to give more than just a social welfare payment to them. We should put in place supports to help them to get out of the poverty trap. For the past four years while we have been in government, funding has been a major issue for us in trying to do everything we would like to do. The provision of child care has been one of the victims of the recession but, as the economy improves, we must seriously consider this issue not just for lone parents but also for those who we all now recognise as the squeezed middle.

People are struggling to pay for child care, with some even giving up work because it is cheaper. I welcome the €14 million in funding the Minister has provided for the after school child care scheme. Unfortunately, there was a low uptake but the only place this care can be provided for those living in rural Ireland is in local schools because it is impossible for a parent to get from town to the school and take the child to the after school care provider before returning to work. An incentive should be in place for employers to operate a programme similar to JobsPlus, which would be centred on lone parents. It would revolve around school hours for lone parents. Family-friendly work arrangements are difficult to come by and I commend Marks & Spencer on the programme it runs, which accommodate lone parents to work flexible hours. If more companies did this, it would be fantastic. We need concrete, workable plans, which would make it easier for lone parents to join the workforce in order that they can avail of a better quality of life and move from welfare dependency.