Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to review the ongoing age reduction changes pertaining to the one parent family payment in view of the severe hardship it is imposing on those affected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26663/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The number of recipients of the One Parent family Payment (OFP) stood at 77,400 in April, 2014. The cost of the OFP scheme was €935 million in 2013 and is estimated to be €863 million in 2014. Both the OFP maximum personal rate for the parent (€188 per week) and the increase for each additional qualified child (€29.80) remain untouched since 2011. An OFP recipient can also earn up to an average of €425 per week and still receive the OFP payment.

The OFP scheme has played an important role in providing income support to lone parents since its introduction in 1997. However, in the past, this income support was passive in nature, with little systematic engagement being made by the State with recipients. This engendered long-term social welfare dependency and associated poverty among one-parent families. Despite significant levels of State spending on OFP the results have been poor in terms of tackling poverty and social exclusion rates among lone parent families who continue to experience higher rates of ‘consistent poverty’ in comparison to the population generally.

The reforms to the OFP scheme that were introduced in Budgets 2011, 2012, and 2013, aim to address these issues. They aim to provide the necessary supports to lone parents to help them to escape inter-generational poverty and joblessness, to participate in education and training, to develop their skills set and by entering the workforce to attain financial independence for both themselves and their families. The reforms to the OFP scheme also aim to bring Ireland’s support for lone parents in line with international provisions – where there is a general movement away from long-term and passive income support.

The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, introduced changes to the OFP scheme, including the phased reduction of the maximum age limit of the youngest child at which a recipient’s payment ceases to 7 years from 2014 for new entrants and from 2015 for existing recipients. Transitional arrangements will apply during the period between 2013 and 2015, depending on the date that a recipient first claimed the OFP payment. By 2015, the maximum age limit of the youngest child will be 7 years for all OFP recipients. Special Provisions exist for customers who are in receipt of the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) and, also, for those who are recently bereaved. These savers can extend payment of the OFP beyond the maximum age limit threshold for these customers.

As an additional support for previous OFP recipients with young children, the JA transitional arrangement was introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2013. This caters for OFP recipients who lose their entitlement to the OFP payment from 4 July, 2013, onwards, who have a youngest child aged under 14 years, and who are entitled to the JA payment. These customers are exempt from the JA conditions that require them to be available for, and genuinely seeking, full-time work, and also, from having to prove unemployment. They can work part-time without restrictions and still receive the JA transitional payment – subject to the jobseeker’s allowance means test.

OFP recipients affected by the age reform are supported by the Department to transition to other social welfare income support payments as appropriate. These include the family income supplement (FIS), the carer’s allowance (CA) payment, the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) payment and the JA transitional arrangement. The Department engages with these customers well in advance of their payment ending to support them through this change and to ensure that they continue to receive social welfare income support as appropriate.

OFP customers leaving the scheme, who are also in receipt of Family Income Supplement, will be moved to an increased Family Income Supplement payment. OFP customers leaving the scheme, who are also in receipt of a half rate Carer’s Allowance payment, will be moved to a full-rate Carer’s Allowance payment. The majority of customers who do not fall into this category can apply for the JA payment or the JA transitional arrangement. Applications for these income support payments are expedited for these customers.

Previous OFP recipients who avail of a jobseeker’s payment, including the JA transitional arrangement, are required to engage with the Department’s activation service where they are provided with access to a range of educational and employment supports to increase their skills and move them into the labour market. As such, lone parents are now obliged to engage in education, training, and employment programmes in order to retain their social welfare income support payment. This is a significant reform for lone parents as it is the first time that this cohort have access to the Department’s full activation process and services to assist them to make their way towards employment and financial independence. Lone parents who do not engage in the activation process will be subjected to the same penalty rates and disallowances as every other jobseeker. There are no plans to review these reforms to the OFP scheme.