Written answers
Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Department of Social Protection
One-Parent Family Payments
Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cuts made to the one-parent family payment from 2008 to 2015; and if she will provide a breakdown identifying the budget measure giving rise to each. [14876/15]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The expenditure on the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme in 2008 was €1,067 million, having risen from €480 million in 2000. The estimated expenditure for the scheme in 2015 is €607 million. The majority of this reduction can be attributed to lone parents on foot of the OFP age reforms, transitioning from the OFP scheme onto another social welfare payment such as jobseeker’s allowance, where there would be proportionate expenditure increases due to the inflow from former OFP recipients.
The table lists the changes that have been made to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme since 2010.
Measure | Source | Implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Increase in the weekly personal OFP rate from €197.80 to €204.30 | Budget 2009 | January, 2009 |
| Increase in the weekly Increase for Qualified Child from €24 to €26 | Budget 2009 | January, 2009 |
| Reduction of the weekly personal OFP rate from €204.30 to €196 | Budget 2010 | January, 2010 |
| Increase in the weekly Increase for Qualified Child from €26 to €29.80 | Budget 2010 | January, 2010 |
| Reduction of the weekly personal OFP rate from €196 to €188 | Budget 2011 | January, 2011 |
| Reduction of the maximum age threshold of the OFP scheme from 18 years (or 22 years if infull-time education) to 14 years | Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2010 | 27 April, 2011 |
| Reduction of the weekly OFP scheme income disregard from €146.50 to €130 | Budget 2012 | January, 2012 |
| Abolition of the OFP scheme transitional payment | Budget 2012 | January, 2012 |
| Implementation of the first phase of the OFP scheme age change reforms (18, 14, and 12 years) | Budget 2012 | 3 May, 2012 |
| Reduction of the weekly OFP scheme income disregard from €130 to €110 | Budget 2012 | January, 2013 |
| Implementation of the second phase of the OFP scheme age change reforms (17, 12, and 10 years) | Budget 2012 | 4 July, 2013 |
| Reduction of the weekly OFP scheme income disregard from €110 to €90 | Budget 2012 | January, 2014 |
| Implementation of the third phase of the OFP scheme age change reforms (16, 10, and 7 years) | Budget 2012 | 3 July, 2014 |
| Implementation of the final phase of the OFP scheme age change reforms (7 years) | Budget 2012 | 2 July, 2015 |
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