Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she still intends to proceed with the introduction of the single working age payment concept, announced by her to the Troika in March 2011; and if a decision has been made to exclude carers, those in receipt of one parent family, disability and invalidity payments. [4064/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Single Working Age Assistance Payment or single payment is a proposal to create a single social welfare payment that would cover all people of working age, including those who would currently be classified as unemployed, with a disability, or parenting alone. The introduction of a single payment could potentially be a key development in the pursuit of a more focused and purposeful activation agenda, which could be delivered through my Department’s Intreo service. The single payment would provide recipients with access to the supports or services they need to enable them take up employment or avail of education and training opportunities and thereby result in better overall outcomes.

The single payment would also be an opportunity to address the current complexity of Ireland’s social welfare system by streamlining a number of different payments for people of working age, thereby making it more transparent and accessible. The development of supports and services is a necessary precondition for the introduction of a single payment and work is on-going on the development of these services. Given the specific nature and purpose of carer’s allowance, the Government has decided to exclude carer’s allowance from any single payment proposals. However, no other decisions have been made in relation to the introduction of a single payment.