Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she has read the report Seven is too Young, published by OPEN; if she will reconsider her decision to reduce the one parent family payment cut-off from 14 by 2016 to 7 by 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11867/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I have read the report 'Seven is too Young' published by OPEN and have noted its content. Until 2011, the one parent family payment (OFP) provided long-term income support, until children were aged 18, or 22 if in full-time education, to lone parents – without any requirement for them to engage in employment, education or training. Such long-term welfare dependency and passive income support to individuals of working age was not considered to be in the best interests of the recipient, of his or her children or of society.

It is recognised that the best route out of poverty is through paid employment. Work, and especially full-time work, may not be an option for parents of young children. However, it is believed that supporting parents to participate in the labour market, once their children have reached an appropriate age, will improve both their own economic situation and the social well-being of themselves and of their families.

In addition, despite significant levels of State spending on one-parent families as well as improvements made to the OFP over the years, the results have been poor in terms of tackling poverty and social exclusion and of encouraging economic independence. Lone parents and their children continue to experience high rates of 'consistent poverty'. The latest EU-SILC figures, published in November, 2011, show that, in 2010, 9.3% of lone parents in Ireland were experiencing 'consistent poverty' compared to 7% of two-parent households and to 6.2% of the population as a whole.

Lone parents are not a homogeneous group – they have experienced different routes to lone parenthood, are of different ages, have different education and employment backgrounds as well as different needs.

Social assistance and the structure and delivery of payments have a key role to play in terms of incentive and disincentive effects with regard to commencing/returning to work, education or training and extending employment. While supports are available to those in receipt of the OFP payment, these are not currently provided in a structured or systematic way.

The reduction in the age limit of the youngest child for receipt of the payment moves the OFP scheme towards a single means-tested social assistance payment for people of working age, which is the Department's strategy with regard to means-tested income support. This payment will end the categorisation of customers, including lone parents, into different payment types and will instead focus on the person and on their individual capacities. People can then be given, or be directed to, the supports and services that they need in order to return to, or take up, employment, training or educational opportunities.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will reconsider her decision, announced in Pathways to Work to cut the jobseeker's benefit payments to persons who have had their working week reduced as a consequence of the recession; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the reason most persons are combining part-time work with social welfare is that they had their working week forcibly reduced and are unable to secure full-time employment because it does not exist. [11885/12]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if it is true that persons in receipt of jobseeker's allowance currently engaged in casual work will have their benefits cut; the rationale behind this; and her views that this will not be practical for some of the categories of persons who are employed on a casual basis, such as lone parents. [11707/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 59 together.

The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative employment. It is a fundamental qualifying condition for these schemes that a person must be available for full-time work.

In this context it may be noted that for many unemployed people, unemployment is a short-term experience. Significant numbers of people leave the live register for work and for other reasons. In 2011, some 143,000 left the register to take up employment.

Budget 2012 provided for a change in payment week for jobseeker's benefit. Where a benefit recipient is working part-time or in casual employment their benefit entitlement will be calculated with reference to a 5 day, rather than a 6 day, week. The Budget also provided for the inclusion of Sunday working when calculating the amount of jobseeker's benefit/allowance payable. Changes to the payment week for jobseeker's benefit will be implemented in July 2012 and the inclusion of Sunday working in January 2013.

The 2006 Review of the Application of the Unemployment Benefit & Assistance Schemes Conditions to workers who are not employed on a full-time basis made a series of recommendations for structural changes to the jobseeker schemes. The Budget measures anticipate implementation of these recommendations. A working group has been established to advance the recommendations and the Budget measures.