Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann:" and substitute the following: "recognises that:

- the One-Parent Family Payment scheme as previously constituted has not worked effectively to lift lone parent families out of poverty: instead it operated in some cases as a welfare dependency trap, often until the youngest child of the lone parent was 18 or 22;

- despite significant levels of investment in the One Parent Family Payment, lone parents have always been more at risk of consistent poverty when compared to the population as a whole. Even in 2004, during the height of the economic boom lone parents were more than four-and-a-half times more at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole (Survey on Income and Living Conditions data);

- in 2003, reforms to the scheme were recommended by the OECD to provide greater support in getting lone parents back into education, training or jobs at an earlier stage;

- the previous Government started implementing these recommendations in early 2011 by reducing the age threshold of the youngest child to 14 but did not introduce any supporting activation measures to accompany this change;

- this Government is now in the process of introducing the necessary support measures to facilitate lone parents in getting back into the workforce, and to reform the scheme so that welfare payments to lone parents whose youngest child is over 7 are no longer based on relationship status. These measures include:

- support from the local Intreo offices;

- easier access to the Family Income Supplement (FIS) and the Back to Work Family Dividend;

- activation measures into education and training; and

- increased investment in childcare programmes;

- in June 2013, in recognition of the difficulties that many lone parents continue to have with childcare, this Government introduced the Jobseeker's Transitional payment so that any lone parent whose youngest child is under 14 is not required to seek work, but will get support in accessing education and training;

- even during the economic boom, Ireland’s rate of lone parent employment was substantially below the OECD average of over 70 per cent and it continues to remain substantially below this level; and

- the aim of the reforms is to provide lone parents with better opportunities to get out of poverty by securing employment and financial independence;

recognises the Government’s commitment to:

- maintain core social welfare weekly rates of payment;

- enhance lone parents’ access to the range of education, training and employment supports and services in order to develop their skill sets with the aim of securing employment and financial independence;

- support lone parents to make the transition from the One-Parent Family Payment onto another social welfare payment;

- support low income families in employment through the FIS which supports over 50,000 families and more than 100,000 children at a cost of €350 million in 2015; and

- acknowledges the increases to Child Benefit, the partial restoration of the Christmas Bonus the Government introduced in Budget 2015 and also the retention of the One-Parent Family Payment weekly income disregard at €90;

welcomes the steps the Government have taken to ease the transition of affected lone parents from the One-Parent Family Payment, including:

- introducing a new payment, the Jobseeker's Transitional payment, after Budget 2013, which ensures that no lone parent whose youngest child is under 14 years of age is required to work;

- providing for activation for lone parents on the Jobseeker's Transitional payment into education and training, while their children are under 14, to prepare them for labour market participation;

- the reforms, including the Jobseeker's Transitional payment, compare very favourably with the current threshold of 5 years of age, which applies in other jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom;

- the automatic reviews and increases of the FIS for affected lone parents, following their transition from the One-Parent Family Payment;

- the introduction of the Back to Work Family Dividend for all lone parents who transition off the One-Parent Family Payment into employment, which allows them to retain their child proportion of their social welfare payment, which is worth approximately €1,550 per child in the first year and half that amount in the second year;

- the approximate 750 information sessions held by the Department of Social Protection around the country since February, where almost 25,000 lone parents were advised on the best options available to them;

- the Government’s annual investment of €260 million in high quality, accessible and affordable childcare for parents, benefiting over 100,000 children: this is delivered through a range of childcare programmes for children, including the free pre-school year and as a range of supports provided to low income parents, i.e. Community Childcare Subvention Programme, Childcare Education and Training Support Programme, After-School Childcare Programme and Community Employment Childcare (CEC) Programme, the latter two of which were introduced in Budget 2013 and Budget 2014 respectively;

- the establishment of an interdepartmental group to carry out an economic and cost benefit analysis of policies and future options for increasing the supply, accessibility and affordability of quality child care;

- the decision to allow lone parents in receipt of half rate Carer’s Allowance to retain their One-Parent Family Payment until their youngest child is 16 years of age;

- allowing lone parents who were, prior to the reform, undertaking an education course and who were in receipt of a SUSI maintenance grant to maintain both their One-Parent Family Payment and the SUSI maintenance grant until they have completed their course of study;

- disregarding SUSI maintenance grants under the Jobseeker's Transitional payment means test for all lone parents who are undertaking an education course; and

- the fact that a lone parent affected by these reforms and in receipt of Rent Supplement may have their personal contribution re-assessed on foot of the reforms, which may result in a reduction in their weekly contribution towards their rent;

welcomes the research the Department of Social Protection is sponsoring into an active inclusion approach to lone parents, which is examining best practice and innovative approaches to assisting lone parents to improve their well-being;

recognises that, on foot of the reforms, approximately 1,650 lone parents are now claiming the FIS for the first time and combined with the Back to Work Family Dividend are now financially better off than they had been on the One-Parent Family Payment;

recognises that, after the reform, lone parents with children who are aged 7 or older and in employment continue to receive substantial support from the Department of Social Protection, for example:

- a lone parent with one child who has no work will receive a jobseeker’s payment of almost €218 per week;

- if they work 19 hours at the National Minimum Wage they will receive, on top of their wages, €235 per week between FIS and the Back to Work Family Dividend, a total family income of €400 per week, which is a gain of €182 per week;

- this individual is in approximately the 5th income decile;

- a lone parent with 3 children and no work on a jobseeker’s payment will receive almost €278 per week from the Department;

- if they work 19 hours at the National Minimum Wage they will receive, on top of their wages, €413 per week between FIS and the Back to Work Family Dividend, a total family income of €578 per week, almost a €300 gain; and

notes that the Government looks forward to examining the various supports available to all families with children, including single parent families, in the next Budget."

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. The Government has a plan to make work pay. We cannot allow a recovering economy to bypass thousands of families who are locked into jobless households. Jobless households with children are at particular risk of perpetuating a cycle of inter-generational poverty.

The purpose of the phased one-parent family payment scheme is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency. The positive impact of this incentive has been evident from the increase in new FIS applications from lone parents who were affected by the reforms in both July 2013 and July 2014. This indicates that many transitioning lone parents have increased their hours of employment in order to claim family income supplement.

Despite significant levels of investment, in excess of €1 billion per annum from 2008 to 2012, the scheme has not been successful in preventing lone parents from being significantly more at risk of consistent poverty compared to the population as a whole. In 2004, lone parents had a risk of consistent poverty that was more than four and a half times that of the general population. Prior to the reforms to the one-parent family payment scheme, lone parents could have been on the scheme until their youngest child turned 18 years of age, or 22 years of age if they were in full-time education. The non-conditional nature of the payment, coupled with its very long duration, consigned many lone parents and their children to long-term welfare dependency. Ireland's supports for lone parents have been out of line with international norms, where there has been a movement away from long-term and non-conditional support towards a more active and supportive approach. In New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the equivalent lone parent supports cease when the youngest child reaches the age of five.

The reforms are aimed at increasing social inclusion and reducing poverty and long-term welfare dependency. A number of issues that arose during the reform process have been resolved. The Government has addressed the carer's allowance issues by ensuring that a lone parent caring for his or her child continues on the current arrangements. It has ensured that those who have returned to education can continue to access their Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, maintenance grant while retaining their underlying payment. The Labour Market Council has been requested to engage with employers to make them aware of the reforms and, where possible, to ask them to offer extra hours that work for lone parents and recognise their situation. We recognise the sacrifice and contribution that lone parents make in raising their children. The State provides one-parent family income support until the youngest child reaches seven years of age. The jobseeker's transition payment has been introduced to support lone parents with children over the age of seven until their 14th birthday.

With regard to the changes to the one-parent family payment, it is anticipated that approximately 30,200 one-parent family payment recipients will transition from that scheme from the beginning of this month. Of these, approximately 20,000 lone parents will experience no income changes or will gain after the transition. The gain for individuals will be in the range of €10 to €150 per week, depending on their level of earnings and the number of children they have. The remaining 10,000 lone parents who are in employment, based on their current circumstances, will have an incentive to increase the number of hours they work. Of that 10,000, approximately 6,000 lone parents will have an immediate incentive to increase their number of work hours to 19 to claim the family income supplement and the back to work family dividend. These individuals will then be financially better off than in their current position. Many parents in this situation may be able to increase their hours to 19, which is four hours per day, given that their youngest child will be at school.

An example of the gain is that a lone parent with one child who increases her level of work from 15 to 20 hours per week at the national minimum wage and claims family income supplement for the first time will gain almost €38 per week. She will also be entitled to claim the back to work family dividend for each additional child, increasing her income by a further €30 per week per child. That is a total of €68 per week where the lone parent has one child.