Vol. 495 No. 1
346 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans, if any, his Department has to address the plight of the many deserted wives with children in the community who find themselves in seriously reduced income positions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19529/98]
The concept of desertion no longer exists in the social welfare code and deserted wives who have dependent children are treated in the same manner as all other lone parents with children. Poverty studies which have been carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Combat Poverty Agency have shown that these family units face a particularly high risk of poverty.
The Department's main response to the difficulties faced by lone parents is the one-parent family payment, introduced in 1997, which aims to strike a balance between providing a basic income for those who wish to care for their children on a full-time basis and, at the same time, encouraging and facilitating lone parents to move into paid employment and away from long-term dependency on social welfare payments. The latter objective is achieved through disregards on the means test for one-parent family payment which means that a lone parent can earn up to £6,000 per year without any loss of entitlement. Lone parents can also apply for various labour market programmes and schemes such as the community employment scheme, back to work allowance and study options.
In addition to the one-parent family payment lone parents also have access to the full range of secondary benefits administered under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.
I am satisfied with the level and range of services currently being provided for lone parents. However, the systems currently in place are relatively new and their effectiveness in meeting policy objectives and the needs of the lone parents themselves will be kept under review.
