David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 617: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 6 of 1 March 2007, if the testing of the lone parent proposals in an urban and rural setting has begun; if not, when he expects it to begin; the nature of the testing process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10581/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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In addition to the development of a new social assistance payment for lone parents, last year's Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, put forward proposals for a range of supports for lone parents, including expanding the availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents; extending the National Employment Action Plan to focus on lone parents; focused provision of child care and improved information services.

The Senior Officials Group on Social Inclusion is currently working on an implementation plan to progress the non-income recommendations in tandem with the development of the legislation required in my Department to introduce a new payment scheme. As part of this process, my Department, with the co-operation of FÁS, the Office of the Minister for Children and the Department of Education and Science, is to test the proposals in both an urban and rural setting so that, through customer profiling, case management and outcome monitoring, the practical and administrative issues that may arise in advance of the scheme being introduced are identified and resolved.

These tests will allow for operational and logistical co-ordination between the relevant Departments and agencies to be developed and will facilitate the development of the new scheme. New lone parent applicants as well as lone parents in receipt of the payment for a number of years will be invited to participate in the tests. They will be offered an activation programme tailored to their personal circumstances following an in-depth assessment from either a facilitator in my Department or a Placement Officer in FÁS. The tests will include the arrangements to ensure that the activation plan is carried out by all those involved.

The pilot arrangements are scheduled for the autumn. A working group is being established with representatives from the main agencies involved to oversee the test arrangements and report back to Government on the results.