Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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285. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there are any plans to acknowledge foster children as dependants to qualify carers for the one-parent family payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49349/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In order to be eligible for the One Parent Family Payment (OFP) an applicant must be a qualified parent, as outlined in Section 172 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended) of at least one child under the age of 7, who is ordinarily resident in the State. Similarly, to qualify for for the Jobseekers Transitional (JST) scheme a person must be a qualified parent of at least one child aged between 7 and 13 years (inclusive). This is set out in Section 148A 2(a) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended). Additional scheme conditions such as a means test, and absence of cohabitation also apply to both schemes.

A qualified parent for the purposes of the OFP and JST schemes includes:

a.a widow,

b.a widower,

c.a separated spouse,

d.an unmarried person,

e.a person whose spouse or civil partner has been committed in custody to a prison or place of detention for not less than 6 months, or

f.a surviving civil partner,

g.a civil partner who is not living with the other civil partner of the civil partnership, or

h.a person who is not a party to a civil partnership

who is the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of at least one relevant child, who normally resides with that person.

Therefore, to be a qualified parent the applicant must legally be defined as either the parent or legal guardian of the relevant child. A foster carer is not the parent or legal guardian of the foster child, as required by the governing legislation for OFP and JST. Therefore, for the purposes of the OFP and JST schemes the foster parent is not a qualified parent and cannot qualify for OFP or JST with the foster child as the relevant child.

The provision of fostering services is a matter for Tusla (the Child and Family Agency). This includes any supports, including financial, that are required by either the foster carers or the foster child. Tusla provides a Foster Care Allowance in respect of each child in foster care. The payment is made to provide for the needs of the child. The weekly Foster Care Allowance is currently €325 per child under 12, and €352 for children aged 12 and over. Foster Care Allowances from Tusla are not taken into account in the means test for social welfare payments and are not taxable.

My Department has a number of income support payments for which foster carers might qualify

- Where a child has been placed in foster care by Tusla and the child has been in the continuous care of the foster carer(s) for 6 months, Child Benefit may then transfer to the foster carer(s).

- A foster carer who is in receipt of a primary social welfare payment, such as Jobseeker’s Allowance can receive an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) in respect of a foster child, as long as no other person is in receipt of an

- QC in respect of the same child.

- If a foster carer moved off Jobseeker's Allowance and had been in receipt of an IQC for their foster child they would be entitled to the Back To Work Family Dividend on the same basis as others.

- The Working Family Payment is paid to low-income families according to the number of children in the family. A foster carer with only foster children can qualify for the Working Family Payment, subject to meeting all of the other qualifying conditions.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.