Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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295. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on the latest CSO survey on income and living conditions, SILC, data which showed a rise in the rates of deprivation and consistent poverty for those persons not at work due to an illness or a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8364/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) results for 2015 show that the consistent poverty rate, for people in households headed by a person who was unable to work due to illness or a disability, was 22.4% in 2015. This compared to 14.4% the year before. The at-risk-of-poverty rate increased from 25.2% to 34.8% and basic deprivation rose from 51.3% to 53.2% for this group in 2015. However, these figures (like other statistics for very small groups in the survey) have been volatile in recent years. This is due to smaller sample sizes. It is not possible to say with certainty whether the changes over the year are statistically significant and indicative of a sustained trend.

Given the continuing economic recovery throughout 2016 and measures introduced in Budgets 2016 and 2017, it is reasonable to expect future figures to show improvements. I will continue to work with my Government colleagues to ensure that the economic recovery is experienced in all regions and by all families, households and individuals.

The Government’s strategy for addressing poverty and social exclusion is set out in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion. The Plan identifies a wide range of targeted actions and interventions to achieve the overall objective of reducing consistent poverty. The Department will review the Plan this year, as it reaches the end of its current term, with a view to developing an updated plan for future periods. The Department will also review the national social target for poverty reduction. This review will be undertaken in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

The Government is committed to increasing the employment opportunities for people with a disability. The Comprehensive Employment Strategy for people with disabilities adopts a cross-government approach that brings together various measures, to be taken by different Departments and State agencies, in a concerted effort to address the barriers and challenges that impact on the employment of people with disabilities. The six strategic priorities are to: build skills, capacity and independence; provide bridges and supports into work; make work pay; promote job retention and re-entry into work; provide co-ordinated and seamless support; and engage employers. These priorities are incorporated into the Pathways to Work Strategy and this ensures that there is an integrated focus on supports that enable people with disabilities to participate in employment where they have the capacity to do so.

My Department provides a range of specific income, activation and employment supports for people with a disability. For instance, the partial capacity benefit scheme enables recipients of invalidity pension and illness benefit to take-up employment, on a voluntary basis, while continuing to receive income support. The Department manages a supported employment service (EmployAbility) which provides a dedicated job-coaching service for people with disabilities. Intreo services are also available to provide employment support services for people with disabilities who wish to engage with the service on a voluntary basis. There is also a focus on supports available to employers who employ people with disabilities such as the Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Workplace Equipment Adaption Grant Scheme.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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296. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on the latest CSO survey on income and living conditions, SILC, report which shows that over 390,000 children are living in households experiencing deprivation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7023/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions results for 2015, showing improvements in living conditions and at tackling poverty. The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2015 shows that 31.4 per cent of children experienced deprivation. While this is higher than the national rate, this is a reduction on the 2014 figure of 36.1 per cent or 51,000 children. The full impact of the recovery is not yet reflected in these figures. Ireland has returned to strong economic and employment growth.

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: The national policy framework for children and young people, published by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in 2014, includes a target to reduce child poverty by two-thirds by 2020. Under this Framework, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in collaboration with my Department and other relevant Departments is taking a whole-of-government approach to tackling child poverty.

A key driver in preventing poverty among children is social transfers, such as welfare payments and child benefit. Using Eurostat data, social transfers (excluding pensions) reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children from 42% to 18%, a poverty reduction effect of 58%. Ireland is among the best in the EU for reducing poverty through social transfers; well above the EU average of 39%, ranking 2nd of the 28 member states.

The monthly unemployment rate in January 2017 announced by the CSO was 7.1%, down from a peak of 15% in 2012. As unemployment is strongly linked to poverty, we can expect further decreases in poverty as the figures for 2016 and 2017 become available. The Government continues to focus helping people back into the workforce.

Budget 2017 increased the weekly rates of payment for working age schemes and also raised the income disregard for one-parent family payment and jobseeker’s transition payment recipients. These measures will help to tackle child poverty.

Continued economic recovery, together with Government action to sustain and develop the social welfare system, will support further reductions in poverty over the coming years.

However, reducing child poverty is not just about income supports and welfare. Rather it is also about supporting parents to make the transition into employment and assisting families through the provision of quality and affordable services in areas such as childcare, education and health.

That is why one of the most important measures contained in Budget 2017 for tackling child poverty was the announcement that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will implement next year the new Single Affordable Childcare Scheme. This scheme is a step change in State support for childcare in Ireland. It is an important scheme as it will significantly reduce the cost of childcare for low income parents and will provide further substantial support for families to lift themselves out of poverty by taking up employment.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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297. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on the levels of constant poverty of children living in households headed by one parent, in the recent EU survey on income and living conditions, SILC, report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7024/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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It is assumed that the Deputy is referring to the consistent poverty rate of children living in households headed by one parent.

The latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2015 shows that the consistent poverty rate for lone parent households is 26.2%, up from 25% in 2014. The deprivation rate for lone parent households fell from 58.7 per cent in 2014 to 57.9% in 2015. The at-risk-of-poverty rate for lone parent households is largely unchanged in 2015 at 36.2%, compared to 36.5% in 2014. The data also shows that the consistent poverty rate for children fell from 12.7% in 2014 to 11.5% in 2015.

This SILC data for 2015 also shows that being at work reduces the consistent poverty rate for lone parents by three-quarters, highlighting that the best way to tackle poverty among lone parents is to assist them into employment.

The full impact of the recovery is not reflected in these 2015 figures. Macro-economic and labour market indicators have shown continued economic and employment growth since then. Unemployment has fallen from 9.5% in mid-2015 to 7.1% in January 2017. The number of people in receipt of working-age income and employment supports continues to fall. The full impact of the reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) and the positive impact of recent Budgets on lone parents are also not reflected in these figures.

In Budget 2016 lone parents benefitted from a number of measures including increases in child benefit, changes to the means test on the jobseeker’s transitional payment to align it with the more generous means test on the one-parent family payment, and increases in the family income supplement thresholds. In Budget 2017 all lone parents on OFP, the jobseeker’s transitional payment (JST) and jobseeker’s allowance (JA) will benefit from the €5 increase in the weekly rates of payment from March. A new €500 annual Cost of Education Allowance will be made available to Back to Education Allowance participants with children from the next academic year in September. In addition, the income disregards for OFP and JST have risen by €20 from January this year, from €90 to €110 per week, reversing in part previous reductions, to encourage one parent families to stay in, and return to, work. During that time the national minimum wage was increased from €8.65 to €9.25 per hour.

The Department of Social Protection’s social impact assessment of Budget 2017 showed that average household incomes increase by 1%. Non-earning lone parents were the biggest beneficiary of Budget 2017 with gains of 4.5%. Working lone parents also experienced above average gains at almost 1.2%. This represents a cumulative increase across Budgets 2015, 2016 and 2017 almost €27 per week for working lone parents and of over €24 per week for lone parents who are not working.

One of the most important measures contained in Budget 2017 for tackling child poverty was the announcement that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will implement next year the new Single Affordable Childcare Scheme. This scheme is a step change in State support for childcare in Ireland. It is an important scheme as it will significantly reduce the cost of childcare for low income parents and will provide further substantial support for families to lift themselves out of poverty by taking up employment.

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: the national policy framework for children and young people, published by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in 2014, includes a target to reduce child poverty by two-thirds by 2020. Meeting this target means lifting 102,000 children out of poverty. Under this Framework, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in collaboration with the Department of Social Protection and other relevant Departments is taking a whole-of-government approach to tackling child poverty.

Eurostat data shows that social transfers (excluding pensions) reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate from 34.9% to 16.9%, an absolute reduction of 18 percentage points. In relative terms, this represents a poverty reduction effect of 52%. Ireland continues to be consistently among the best performing EU countries in reducing poverty through social transfers. But we also know that, reducing poverty for lone parents is not just about income support. It is also about supporting lone parents to make the transition into employment and assisting these families through the provision of quality services in areas such as activation including education, training and employment supports, and childcare.

As part of the OFP reforms the Department has begun engaging with lone parents whose youngest child is seven years and older, on a proactive and supported basis. To date over 9,000 lone parents, of the 14,500 lone parents who are on the jobseeker’s transitional payment, have been selected for engagement. It will take time to see the full impact of these activation engagements as it will take time for lone parents to complete the education, training or employment support programmes.

Data from the latest Quarterly National Household Survey also shows that there has been a significant increase in the percentage of lone parents in employment in the year since the end of June 2016. This increase relates to all lone parents in the State and reflects the increase in economic and employment growth generally. The magnitude of the increase for lone parents specifically, however, is clearly significant.

Continued economic recovery, together with the actions outlined above will support further reductions in poverty over the coming years. The independent review of the one-parent family payment reforms, once completed, will also assist with discussions in my Department on measures for lone parents in Budget 2018.