Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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255. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of recipients currently in receipt of both the one parent family payment and the half rate carer’s allowance; the number of these recipients who will lose their entitlement to these payments in 2025 due to their child turning 16; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16328/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The One-Parent Family Payment is a payment for parents who are under 66 and who are not cohabiting and whose youngest child is under age seven. When the youngest child turns seven, the person may then apply for the Jobseeker's Transitional Payment. The Jobseeker's Transitional Payment is a special arrangement under the Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme that is available to lone parents who are not co-habiting and whose youngest child is aged seven to 13 years inclusive.

Special provisions have been made in the legislation to extend entitlement beyond the youngest child’s relevant age, in certain circumstances . Where a person is in receipt of:

- Domiciliary Care Allowance, the One-Parent Family Payment will remain in payment until the child, for whom Domiciliary Care Allowance is paid, reaches 16 years or the youngest child in the household reaches the cut-off point for One-Parent Family Payment at age seven, whichever is later;

- Half-rate Carer's Allowance, the One-Parent Family Payment will remain in payment until the sixteenth birthday of the youngest child or the date on which the Carer's Allowance payment ceases, whichever is earlier;

- Blind Pension, the One-Parent Family Payment will remain in payment until the sixteenth birthday of the youngest child in the household.

In the case of a recent bereavement, where a person had been living with their spouse, cohabitant or civil partner, One-Parent Family Payment is payable for two years from the date of the death or until the youngest child reaches age 18, whichever is earlier.

At the end of February, there were 10,220 people in receipt of both the One Parent Family Payment and Half Rate Carer’s Allowance. Of these, some 390 will cease receiving these payments in 2025, based on the age of the youngest child. However, it is important to note that:

- at age 16, the person for whom the Half Rate Carers Allowance or Domiciliary Care Allowance was being paid becomes eligible to apply for the Disability Allowance in their own right.

- the person formerly in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment, can move onto the Jobseeker’s Allowance payment or alternatively, where a person is providing full-time care, they can apply for full-rate Carers Allowance. In the latter case, the person can work 18.5 hours a week and retain the payment.

The Department's schemes are kept under review but there are no plans to make any changes to these arrangements at present.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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256. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his views on the extension of the homeowner's once-off payment in respect of 2024 mortgage interest payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16339/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Finance Act 2023 introduced the Mortgage Interest Tax Credit. This tax credit is for taxpayers who have made payments in respect of a qualifying loan for a principal private residence. The Mortgage Interest Tax Credit was originally only available for the year 2023. However, in Finance Act 2024, it has been extended to include the year 2024.

Those who applied for and did not qualify for the Mortgage Interest Tax Credit 2023 from Revenue, due to an insufficient tax liability but who did satisfy all other conditions, could apply to my department to be considered for the Homeowners Once-Off Payment in respect of 2023. No decision has been made to extend the Homeowners Once Off payment for the year 2024 at this time.