Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil welcomes the publication of the report on lone parents and commends the work of the committee. As the report points out, lone parents are not a homogeneous group. However, being a lone parent carries its own particular difficulties. Lone parents represent one of the household types most at risk of poverty and almost 58% of lone-parent households experience deprivation. Moreover, as the housing crisis continued unabated and rents continued to soar, 770 lone-parent families were living in emergency accommodation as of August 2017. This report highlights the particular issues faced by lone parents and how the systems and policies that are currently in place can often hinder rather than help lone parents and their children.

The reforms to the one-parent family payment introduced by Fine Gael and the Labour Party under the previous Government have had a detrimental impact on a significant number of lone-parent households and have caused a great deal of financial and emotional distress.Such measures must be cognisant that not only do lone parents parent alone but they also face difficulties in the type and quality of work available to them due to the absence of affordable child care and access to adequate public transport. It is imperative that lessons are learned from mistakes of the past and that we take on board recommendations made in this report and other reports, and develop progressive systems and policies that recognise and take account of the particular circumstances of lone-parent families.

Of the 218,817 one-parent families recorded in census 2016, the vast majority were female and over half had just one child while fathers tended to be much older, with 68% being aged 50 years or over compared to just 38.3% of mothers. Fewer than half of parents in one-parent families were at work compared to 70.2% of two-parent families. Lone-parent households continue to be extremely exposed to poverty and deprivation. The most recent SILC data available from January 2017 shows that there was an increase in the percentage of lone-parent households in consistent poverty. Some 26.2% of lone-parent households are in consistent poverty in 2015 compared to 25% in 2014, 36.2% of lone-parent households are at risk of poverty in 2015 compared to 36.5% in 2014 and 57.9% of lone-parent households are experiencing deprivation in 2015 compared to 58.7% in 2014.

The Minister referred to the measures introduced in the recent budget which are very welcome. While Fianna Fáil is not in government, we used our influence as best we could to ensure that budget 2018 would be fair and would assist those on low and fixed incomes. As a party we are committed to ensuring that this is a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. While the budget is far from perfect it contained a number of positive measures which will directly impact on lone parents and which are also in line with some of the recommendations contained in the joint committee's report on lone parents, including €5 increase for all other social welfare payments, €2 increase in all qualified child payment, income disregard for working lone-parents increased by €20 from €110 to €130 per week, additional week of the fuel allowance, bringing it from 26 to 27 weeks. These measures are all very welcome.

However, the homelessness crisis has affected lone parents disproportionately. Ireland is in the midst of a homelessness crisis. Unfortunately, the Government’s inadequate response to such a serious issue and its failure to build social housing has left thousands of people without a home and living in emergency accommodation. Lone parents make up a significant proportion of those who are homeless. In August 2017 there were 770 lone-parent households living in emergency accommodation. Growing up in a hotel room robs childhoods from far too many children and causes considerable distress for all subjected to such inappropriate living conditions.

The committee’s report notes that private rental costs rose in Ireland by an average of 13.5% in 2016, and the lack of social and affordable housing has contributed to this crisis. Other issues such as domestic violence can also contribute to homelessness for lone-parent households. Fianna Fáil believes the policy whereby if an individual receives HAP he or she must give up his or her place on the social housing list must change. The committee’s report rightly states that "this requirement, along with the ongoing insecurity of tenure in the private rental market, can lead to a hard choice between the desire to leave emergency accommodation and the long term security which social housing might provide for their children e.g. in terms of school enrolment". Moreover, the Government’s over-reliance on the private rental sector is a flawed approach and will do little to solve the crisis. They need to get back to basics and start building social housing.

While we welcome the measures introduced in budget 2018, some of which are in line with the recommendations of the committee’s report, much more needs to be done if the poverty and deprivation experienced by lone parents and their children is to be comprehensively addressed. The social welfare system must be more flexible and responsive to the needs of lone parents and their children. It must be recognised that they are caring alone and the welfare system needs to reflect the needs of both one and two parent families. The social welfare system should help not hinder parents trying to balance and combine their caring role with paid employment.