Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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80. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who will be affected by the proposed changes to the lone parent's allowance which will commence on 4 July; the savings she estimates will be made from these changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33216/13]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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100. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the activation measures introduced by her, combined with changes to one parent family payment in the past two years, are having the opposite effect intended. [33257/13]

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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108. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the full saving/cut made to one parent family payment recipients for each of the past three budgets. [33266/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 100 and 108 together.

There are currently 83,210 people who receive the one-parent family payment (OFP). The cost of the OFP scheme was €1.06 billion in 2012 and is estimated to be €935 million in 2013. In 2013, on foot of the OFP reforms which came into effect on 4 July, it is expected that up to 9,300 recipients will leave the OFP scheme. Up to 8,000 of these will lose entitlement this month. These numbers reflect the maximum number of cases who may lose entitlement in 2013. This reform is expected to yield estimated savings of €3.94m in 2013.

The reforms to the OFP scheme are predicated on activation and on getting customers who may have experienced recurring poverty and social exclusion traps back into the workforce once their children have reached an appropriate age. The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in February, 2013, show that, in 2011, 16.4% of lone parents in Ireland were experiencing ‘consistent poverty’ – compared to 6.9% of the population as a whole. In order to address these issues, I am introducing reforms to the OFP scheme that aim to ensure better long-term outcomes for lone parents and their families.

It is expected that the majority of those who will lose their entitlement to the OFP payment will apply for the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) scheme. Lone parents who apply for JA and whose youngest child is under 14 years of age can avail of the new JA transition arrangement. The JA transition arrangement is provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2013 and is a specific measure for lone parents transitioning from OFP to JA, whose youngest child is under 14 years of age. Customers who avail of this arrangement will be exempt from the JA conditionality that requires them to be available for, and genuinely seeking, full-time work. They will also be exempt from having to prove unemployment and be able to work part-time without restrictions and still receive the JA payment – subject to a means test.

The JA transition arrangement recognises the difficulty of parenting alone and will ease the transition of former OFP recipients with children of primary school age onto the JA scheme. Without it, it is likely that many former OFP recipients would not have qualified for the JA payment as their caring responsibilities may have prevented them from being available for, and genuinely seeking, full-time work. Significantly, the JA transition arrangement will still require that this group of customers fully engage with my Department’s full activation process. This is the same requirement that applies to all other jobseekers.

The OFP reforms are designed to provide the necessary supports to enable lone parents improve their skills and enhance their prospects of progressing into employment. As part of this process lone parents who transition to the jobseeker schemes will have access to the full range of supports and services provided under my Department’s activation service.

The following table outlines the savings, as announced, for budget measures that affected OFP recipients only in Budgets 2011, 2012 and 2013.

OFP recipients may have been affected by other budget measures in the last three years that also affected other social welfare recipients such as changes to the child benefit scheme, fuel allowance etc. These savings are not included in the above table.