Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 June 2014
88. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection in view of her comments on a radio programme (details supplied) in respect of the restriction and means testing to the one-parent family payment introduced by her in budget 2013 if she accepts that her actions are the direct opposite of those of her predecessor which she sought to praise. [26464/14]
View answerUntil the early 1970s, the only category of lone parent families to receive support under the social welfare system, were widows through the contributory and non-contributory schemes introduced for them in 1935. Schemes for other types of lone parent families began to be introduced in 1970 when the first scheme for deserted wives was announced, followed by provision for unmarried mothers in 1973 and provision for prisoners' wives in 1974. Following the Report of the Commission on Social Welfare (1986), a unified social assistance scheme for lone parents was introduced in 1990, known as the lone parent's allowance (LPA) to provide support for all lone parents, whether a man or a woman, and regardless of the circumstances which originally gave rise to their lone parenthood. The one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme, which was introduced in 1997, builds on the LPA scheme.
The number of OFP recipients stood at 77,400 in April, 2014. The cost of the OFP scheme was €935 million in 2013 and is estimated to be €863 million in 2014. Both the OFP maximum personal rate for the parent (€188 per week) and the increase for each additional qualified child (€29.80) remain untouched since 2011. An OFP recipient can also earn up to an average of €425 per week and still receive the OFP payment.
The OFP scheme has played an important role in providing income support to lone parents since its introduction. However, in the past, this income support was passive in nature, with little systematic engagement being made by the State with recipients. This engendered long-term social welfare dependency and associated poverty among one-parent families.
Despite significant levels of State spending on OFP the results have been poor in terms of tackling poverty and social exclusion rates among lone parent families who continue to experience higher rates of 'consistent poverty' in comparison to the population generally.
The reforms to the OFP scheme that were introduced in Budgets 2011, 2012, and 2013, aim to address these issues. They aim to provide the necessary supports to lone parents to help them to escape poverty and joblessness, to participate in education and training and by entering the workforce to attain financial independence for both themselves and their families.
The reforms to the OFP scheme also aim to bring Ireland's support for lone parents in line with international provisions – where there is a general movement away from long-term and passive income support.
The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, introduced changes to the OFP scheme, including the phased reduction of the maximum age limit of the youngest child at which a recipient's payment ceases to 7 years from 2014 for new entrants and from 2015 for existing recipients.
Special Provisions exist for customers who are in receipt of the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) and, also, for those who are recently bereaved. These savers can extend payment of the OFP beyond the maximum age limit threshold for these customers.
OFP recipients affected by these changes are supported to transition to other social welfare income support payments as appropriate, including family income supplement (FIS), carer's allowance (CA) and jobseeker's allowance (JA) including the JA transitional arrangement.
Previous OFP recipients who avail of a jobseeker's payment are required to engage with the Department’s activation service, where they are provided with access to a range of educational and employment supports to increase their skills and assist them in securing employment. This is a significant reform for lone parents as it is the first time that this cohort has access to the Department's full activation process. Lone parents, in receipt of a jobseeker's payment, who do not engage in the activation process, will be subjected to the same penalty rates and disallowances as every other jobseeker.
The income disregard of the OFP scheme is also being reduced on a phased basis for new and existing recipients of the payment. It is currently €90 per week and will reduce to €60 per week by 2016. The OFP earnings disregard does seem to have played a role in facilitating lone parents to enter the workforce but it may also have had the effect of trapping lone parents in low-paid part-time employment in order to keep their earnings below the disregard. The result is that, despite the fact that 36% of OFP recipients are in employment, relatively small numbers are moving off the OFP scheme because their earnings exceed the upper limit.
The reforms to the OFP scheme aim to provide affected lone parents with access to a wide range of supports and services. These supports are designed to enable lone parents' secure improved outcomes for themselves and their families by enhancing their prospects of securing long term financial independence.
