Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

44. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if recipients of one-parent family payments who are in year three of a four-year degree course may continue to receive the higher education maintenance grant and their back to education payments when switched to the back to education allowance by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18016/15]

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

The reforms to the one-parent family payment aim to reduce long-term social welfare dependency among lone parents by providing them with access the Department’s range of education, training, and employment programmes, with a view to developing their skills set and assisting them into sustainable employment, whilst simultaneously acknowledging their specific caring responsibilities.

The Department remains committed to supporting lone parents who wish to pursue education and training. All of the 29,400 customers affected by the one-parent family payment reforms in July 2015, who are in education, will be able to remain on one-parent family payment until they complete their course of education. These customers will not be required to switch to the back to education allowance. If they are in receipt of a SUSI grant, they can continue to receive both the maintenance and tuition portion of the SUSI grant, subject to the normal conditions of the grant. The maintenance portion of the grant will not be assessed as means for their one-parent family payment. Once their course ends, they will transition to either the jobseeker’s transitional payment or the jobseeker’s allowance, whichever is appropriate.

For customers who lose entitlement to one-parent family payment from July 2015 onwards their youngest child will be 7 years of age. These customers can transition to the jobseeker’s transitional payment which is payable until their youngest child reaches 14 years of age. This allows these customers up to 7 years to complete their course. If they are in receipt of a SUSI grant they can maintain grant. In situations like this, the maintenance portion of the SUSI grant will be disregarded for means purposes on the jobseeker’s transitional payment.