Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he supports the One Family, formerly Cherish, recommendation to increase the one parent family allowance by €18.50 to €165 per week. [31000/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Last week, I held a pre-budget forum which was attended by 31 representative organisations including One Family, formerly Cherish. At this forum, each organisation, including One Family, had the opportunity to present its key priorities for consideration in advance of budget 2006. I would like to thank One Family for its contribution to the forum and the valuable work which it and many other organisations do in their communities.

I have also received a written pre-budget submission from One Family which includes its proposal to increase the one parent family allowance by €18.50 to €165 per week. This proposal with the other proposals put forward by the organisation will be considered in the context of the forthcoming budget.

Government policy is to achieve the income adequacy target set in the national anti-poverty strategy. This commitment is to increase the lowest social welfare rates to €150 per week, in 2002 terms, by 2007. We are on target to achieve this objective. In budget 2005, the lowest rates of social welfare were increased by €14 per week to €148.80. This represented a level of increase more than four times the projected level of inflation for 2005. I look forward to making further progress on this matter in budget 2006.