Written answers

Thursday, 27 October 2005

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Family Support Services

5:00 pm

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the actions he will take to respond to the recommendations in the One Family pre-budget submission, Achieving Equality and Social Inclusion for All One Parent Families in Ireland. [30750/05]

Photo of Séamus BrennanSéamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I was pleased to receive the pre-budget submission recently from the One Family group and to welcome the organisation to my pre-budget forum to hear at first hand the issues raised by its representatives.

The recommendations made by One Family in its pre-budget submission, entitled Achieving Equality and Social Inclusion for All One Parent Families in Ireland, include proposals on access for lone parents to education, training and employment, access to quality early childhood development and ongoing education, support for one-parent and low-income families in meeting their accommodation needs, and addressing the issue of poverty among one-parent families.

I share many of the group's concerns regarding lone parent families. It is generally accepted that for people in working age households, the main route out of poverty is through employment. One of the prime objectives of the one parent family payment is to encourage lone parents to consider a gradual move away from welfare dependency into education, training and employment.

However, I recognise that the issues raised by One Family and the issues concerning lone parents in general are best addressed in an interdepartmental context. It was for this reason that the Government asked the senior officials group on social inclusion late last year to examine the obstacles to employment for lone parents and to report back to the Cabinet committee on social inclusion with specific proposals.

A sub-group of the senior officials group has been examining obstacles to employment for lone parent families, with particular emphasis on income supports, employment, education, child care and support programmes and information.

We must also look closely at income supports and how we can adjust those supports better to address the social problems that can arise for those who receive such payments. In this regard, my Department has established a working group to review the income support arrangements for lone parents.

Issues being addressed include the contingency basis of the one parent family payment, co-habitation, individualisation, maintenance and secondary benefits. A consultation process with social partners and other interested parties, including One Family, was also undertaken to inform the work of the group. The findings of this group are feeding into the work of the senior officials sub-group.

The Cabinet committee on social inclusion has been updated on the progress of both working groups. I will be bringing the final reports to Cabinet shortly with a view to publication in the near future. It is intended that the outcome of these reviews will contribute to the design of proposals with the aim of better supporting and encouraging lone parents to achieve an improved standard of living, employment and education opportunities, and a better future for themselves and their children. These will be the main criteria against which recommendations in the reports will be judged.

I am committed to reforms that will improve the quality of life for lone parents and their children by offering them respect and support while avoiding poverty traps. In this regard, I agree with many of the objectives of One Family and hope that the work currently under way will lead to a satisfactory outcome for one parent families.

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