Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 October 2013
336. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on a matter regarding ten solutions for a smarter future (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42437/13]
View answerThe Government is committed to helping one-parent families to become economically independent. Under Pathways to Work 2013, the Department is developing proposals for the extension of activation interventions, such as profiling and personal engagements, to customers of the Department who are not on the Live Register, including lone parents. These proposals are due to be finalised by the first quarter of 2014.
The Department is in the process of introducing a series of reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme. These reforms are predicated on activation and on getting people back into the workforce once their children have reached an appropriate age. A wide range of supports and services are presently available to lone parents who are clients of my Department and who pro-actively engage with the Department’s activation process.
The recently introduced jobseeker’s allowance transitional arrangement caters for OFP recipients who lose their entitlement to the OFP payment from July, 2013, onwards, who have a youngest child aged under 14 years, and who are entitled to the jobseeker’s allowance (JA) payment. These customers are exempt from the JA conditionality that requires them to be available for, and genuinely seeking, full-time work. They are also exempt from having to prove unemployment and can work part-time without restrictions and still receive the JA transitional arrangement payment – subject to a means test. The exemptions from the full JA conditionality will remain in place until a recipient’s youngest child reaches the age of 14 years. At this point, should they continue to claim the JA payment, they will be subjected to the full JA conditionality.
Recipients of either the JA or JA transitional arrangement payment may qualify for other social welfare income support benefits at the same time as their primary payment. They can also avail of a wide range of education, training, and employment supports, and are entitled to apply, subject to qualifying conditions, for subsidised child care through both the community childcare subvention (CCS) programme) and the childcare education and training support (CETS) which are administered by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (D/CYA). In addition they can apply for the after-school child care scheme should they take-up employment, increase their days of employment or commence certain employment programmes. This scheme is also funded by the D/CYA but jointly administered by my Department and the D/CYA.
Lone parents can also qualify for the family income supplement (FIS). FIS is an income support payment for families on low income that incentivises them to retain or increase their hours of employment.
I must point out that, in 2011, One Family received funding of €34,946 from my Department for its ‘New Futures’ programme for the 2011-2012 period. This funding came from the activation and family support programme (AFSP) that is managed by my Department. The objective of the AFSP is to provide funding towards the development of training and education initiatives (mainly in conjunction with other organisations and agencies) aimed at assisting social welfare income support recipients to enhance their employability through education, training and personal development opportunities, and to improve their quality of life. In 2012, One Family obtained funding of €33,720 from my Department for its ‘New Futures – Securing A Career’ programme for the 2012-2013 period, and it is my understanding that a request for further funding for its ‘New Futures Plus’ programme for the 2013-2014 period is presently being examined by officials in the Department.
