Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 141: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position in relation to the reform of supports for lone parents. [9300/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government discussion paper, "Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents", put forward proposals to tackle obstacles to employment for lone parents and other low income families. These included proposals for the extension of the National Employment Action Plan to focus on lone parents, focused provision of child care and the introduction of a new social assistance payment for low income families with young children.

Any proposed new payment cannot be introduced without co-ordinated supports and services being put in place by other Departments and Agencies. The Senior Officials Group on Social Inclusion is working on an implementation plan to progress the non-income recommendations. Issues including access to child care support, education, training and activation measures are being discussed with the relevant Departments and Agencies in tandem with the development of a new payment scheme.

To further inform the process, the Department, with the co-operation of FÁS, the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Education and Science, tested the proposals in both an urban and rural setting: Coolock, Dublin and Kilkenny. These studies were carried out to facilitate the development of the policy and operational details of the new scheme. The process involved both lone parents and qualified adults. It was carried out on a voluntary basis and the take-up was low.

The experience has however highlighted how both lone parents and qualified adults are not a homogenous group, are of different ages, have experienced different routes into their current situation and have different needs. Educational levels of those who participated were generally low, there was little or no engagement with FÁS, some participants intended to return to full or part-time work when their child was a few months old; others, however, had been out of the work force for a considerable period of time. Earnings from previous employment were generally low. For almost all of those intending to return to work, affordable child care is a critical issue.

Officials in the Department continue to work on developing the proposed new income support payment and the experience of this engagement process is feeding into the development of our approach to working with lone parents and qualified adults.