Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

389. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the numbers of recipients of the one parent family payment affected by the phasing out of their payments based on the age of their children in the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015; and if he will report on the way transitional measures put in place for recipients of one parent family payment moving to other social welfare payments have been working in practice. [9207/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department is in the process of reforming the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme. These reforms, which were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, are predicated on activation and on facilitating lone parents back into the workforce once their children have reached an appropriate age.

The table below indicates the number of recipients who lost their entitlement to the OFP payment as a result of the age reforms to the OFP scheme in both 2012 and 2013. The table also estimates the number of recipients, based on the current profile of OFP recipients, who may be expected to exit the scheme as a result of the further age reforms in both 2014 and 2015.

The Government is committed to supporting one-parent families who pro-actively engage with the Department’s work activation process to become economically independent. A wide range of supports and services are presently available to lone parents who lose their entitlement to the OFP payment as a result of the reforms to the OFP scheme.

In advance of the OFP scheme age reforms in July 2013, I introduced a number of measures aimed at easing the transition of affected lone parents to other social welfare income support payments. These included the re-rating of existing carer’s allowance and family income supplement (FIS) claims and the fast-tracking of new applications for the FIS, carer’s allowance and jobseeker’s allowance payments.

In addition, last year, in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2013, I introduced the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) transitional arrangement, which caters for OFP recipients who lose their entitlement to the OFP payment, who have a youngest child aged under 14 years, and who are entitled to the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) payment. These customers are now exempt from the JA criteria that require them to be available for, and genuinely seeking, full-time work. They can work part-time without restrictions and still receive the JA payment – subject to a means test. They also have access to the Department’s activation related supports to enable them to become job-ready and/or to find employment. The exemptions from the full JA conditionality will remain in place until a recipient’s youngest child reaches the age of 14 years. At this point, should they continue to claim the JA payment, they will be subjected to the full JA conditionality.

From an operational perspective, letters were issued to all customers whose claims were due to finish in July, 2013. Depending on the local circumstances, customers were either invited to information seminars held locally, or to one-to-one meetings, to advise them of their possible entitlements to other social welfare income support payments. Relevant application forms were issued at these information seminars/one-to-one meetings to ensure that payments were not delayed. The communication included a Public Services Office phone number based in Sligo that took all calls relating to the ending of claims. OFP customers in receipt of either the FIS payment or the carer’s allowance received centrally-issued letters – and their entitlement was reviewed automatically by these scheme areas.

My officials are currently making the necessary preparations in advance of the next phase of the OFP scheme age reforms – which are due to take place in July, 2014. These preparations will aim to ensure that lone parents who will be affected by these reforms will continue to have their transition eased to other social welfare income support payments.