Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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141. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total annual cost of restoring the one parent family payment to the 18 years of age threshold; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41676/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme that were introduced in Budgets 2011, 2012, and 2013, are predicated on activation and on getting people back into the workforce once their children have reached an appropriate age. There are no plans to change these arrangements. The cost of the OFP scheme was €1.06 billion in 2012 and is currently estimated to be €935 million for 2013. The reduction in expenditure on the scheme is as a result of all of the scheme reforms, including the reduction in the age limit of the youngest child for receipt of OFP. Overturning the reforms that have been made to the scheme, including the restoration of the age limit of the youngest child at which a recipient's payment ceases to 18 years, would restore expenditure on the scheme to approximately €1 billion per annum.