Written answers

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Department of Social Protection

One-Parent Family Payment Application Numbers

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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130. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to address the needs of those who are in receipt of one parent family payment and will be affected by the changeover to the transition payment who are working as little as an hour a day for five days; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that if these recipients change over to jobseeker's payments they will lose income and many will be left with no option but to give up employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28391/13]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme aim to provide the necessary supports to lone parents to help them to escape poverty and social exclusion. I believe that supporting lone parents to participate in education, training, and the workforce, once their children have reached an appropriate age, will improve both their own and their families’ economic and social circumstances.As a result of these reforms once an OFP recipient’s youngest child reaches the relevant age threshold, they will no longer be entitled to the OFP payment. These changes will be gradually phased in during the period between July 2013 and 2015. Should former OFP recipients still have an income support need they will be required to apply for another social welfare payment. It is expected that the majority of individuals in these circumstances will apply for jobseeker’s allowance (JA). They may also apply for the family income supplement (FIS) if they are working at least 19 hours per week.

The Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 contains legislative provisions to introduce transitional arrangements into the JA scheme to assist former OFP recipients whose youngest child is under 14 make the transition to JA. These customers will be exempt from the JA conditionality that requires them to be available for, and genuinely seeking, full-time work until their youngest child reaches the age of 14 years. In addition, these individuals will not have to satisfy the JA rule, which requires an individual to be unemployed for at least 4 out of any 7 consecutive days. This means that lone parents under the JA transitional arrangements will be able to work a few hours each day subject to them satisfying the JA means test.

Former OFP recipients who have a youngest child aged 14 years or over can apply for the JA payment, with the full conditionality of that scheme applied. This includes satisfying the scheme rule whereby JA is payable only where a person is fully unemployed for 4 out of any 7 days. In situations where the working patterns of former OFP recipients do not conform to this rule a number of options are available to the customer.

They may be able to reorganise their current hours of employment to satisfy JA scheme conditionality or secure an increase in their hours in order to qualify for FIS. If they are unable to meet either JA or FIS scheme rules and they have an income need, they may have recourse to Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA).

Persons due to exit the OFP scheme in the coming period are being engaged with at local level by Social Welfare Local / Intreo Offices. During these engagements the options available to a former OFP recipient who works across a number of days per week can be discussed.

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