Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 January 2012
31 Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection her views that the six month transitional one parent family payment was a valuable activation support making work pay; and if she will reverse her decision to abolish same. [4350/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe transitional payment was introduced to assist recipients of the one-parent family payment (OFP) in their transition to employment. Until 31 December, 2011, recipients of the OFP for 52 consecutive weeks, whose income exceeded the scheme's €425 weekly earnings disregard limit, were entitled to the transitional payment, which was paid at half of the rate of their OFP, for a period of 26 weeks, after which payment would cease completely.
From 1 January 2012, the transitional payment will no longer be awarded to new and existing OFP recipients. Their entitlement to the OFP payment will automatically end if their earnings exceed the €425 weekly earnings disregard limit. The approximately 225 existing recipients of the transitional payment are not affected by this reform and will continue to receive the payment for the balance of six months.
The current transitional payment was introduced in 2005 when the weekly earnings disregard limit for the receipt of the OFP payment was €293. This has been increased substantially since then, so that an OFP recipient with earnings of up to €425 per week can still receive a significant rate of OFP. It is in this context, and in light of the current requirement for reductions in social welfare expenditure, that the decision to abolish the transitional payment has been made. There are no plans to reverse this decision.
