Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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399. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if paid work is seen as a route out of poverty; the reason lone parents are now financially penalised if they are in part-time work (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31514/14]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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408. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which she has noted the concerns of lone parents who may have suffered a loss of income due to changes in the administration of the one parent family allowance, with particular reference to lone parents in part time employment and in receipt of the relevant allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31627/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 399 and 408 together.

The one-parent family payment (OFP) has played an important role in providing income support to lone parents since its introduction in 1997. The number of OFP recipients stood at 74,426 in June, 2014, and an estimated €863 million will be spent on the scheme during 2014.

The OFP scheme is in the process of being reformed. These reforms are reducing on a phased basis, the maximum age limit of the youngest child at which an OFP recipient’s payment ceases to 7 years from 2014 for new entrants and from 2015 for existing recipients.

On 3 July the latest phase of the OFP reforms was implemented when 5,140 lone parents entitlement to OFP ceased. It is expected that approximately 3,600 of these customers will seek to transition to the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) payment. The exact number of affected customers who will be moving to the JA scheme will depend on the number of these customers who may instead be eligible to apply for the family income supplement (FIS) payment.

Some 70% of affected customers who make the transition from the OFP payment to the JA payment are not working and, as such, will not suffer any reduction in their new income support payment as the JA payment pays the same personal and qualified child rates as the OFP payment. One of the aims of the OFP reforms is to provide lone parents with access to the Department’s activation supports with the purpose of assisting the large cohort of former OFP recipients who are currently not working, improve their prospects of securing employment.

Furthermore, any of these customers with a child aged under 14 years will be entitled to the JA transitional arrangement, which exempts them from having to be genuinely seeking, and available for, full-time employment. This special arrangement enables lone parents with young children who are working part-time – e.g. during mornings only – to remain in work and to receive income and activation supports as appropriate. The arrangement thus allows them to balance their caring responsibilities and, at the same time, significantly reduces their requirement for child care.

Lone parents who are working and who transfer to the JA scheme may suffer a reduction in their income support payment due to the fact that the JA means test is less generous than the OFP means test. The exact amount of this reduction will depend on a person’s respective earnings.

However, if a lone parent is working a minimum of 19 hours per week, or is in a position to increase their working hours up to that level, they will be advised by the Department to apply for the FIS payment as this is the most beneficial income support for them. New FIS applications from these lone parents are, as a result, being expedited.

Lone parents who transition to either JA or FIS and who are in employment, may be able to avail of the after school child care (ASCC) scheme. This scheme provides subsidised childcare for children of primary school age. Under this scheme parents make a parental contribution of €15 per child per week and receive after school child care for 5 days a week. This is a significant support and it builds on the Department of Children and Youth Affairs other childcare schemes, which currently support approximately 35,000 children from low income families.