The net reduction in combined income to a person currently on CE and in receipt of One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is as follows:
Number of Children
|
Amount
|
1 child
|
€22.30 per week
|
2 children
|
€37.10 per week
|
3 children
|
€51.90 per week
|
4 children
|
€66.70 per week
|
5 children
|
€81.50 per week
|
6 children
|
€97.30 per week
|
The reason the difference is less than the basic €29.80 child dependant rate is due to the retained OFP being reassessed upwards due to less Community Employment (CE) income being means-assessed against it. The reduced €130 income disregard has also been taken into account in these calculations. The above only applies to current CE participants in receipt of OFP.
The number of children affected by the changes is 8,042 in total for OFP recipients. New participants on CE will receive the CE equivalent of their current OFP rate plus the €20 CE participation bonus, in line with the Social Welfare Act, 2011. Given the exigency of the current budgetary situation facing my Department, I cannot reinstate the budgets to 2011 levels.