Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
430. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the changes introduced to the one-parent family payment since 27 June 2020; and if she will detail the number of recipients, by county, benefitting from these changes, in tabular form. [31134/23]
View answerThe One-Parent Family Payment is a means tested payment for lone parents under 66, who are not cohabiting, and whose youngest child is under seven. There have been a number of changes to the scheme since 2020 which have had a positive impact to those in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment.
In 2020 the earnings disregard was increased by €15 to €165 per week allowing recipients to earn more without affecting their payment. Only 50% of earnings about that disregard are assessed as means.
In April 2021 I removed the earnings threshold of €425 from the One-Parent Family Payment. This change means that recipients of the payment no longer face a cliff-edge when their earnings reach €425 per week but rather the payment tapers off as their earnings increase.
Budget 2022 and 2023 saw increases to the weekly personal rate of One-Parent Family Payment of €5 and €12 respectively, bringing the current personal rate of payment to €220 per week.
I have consistently increased the weekly rate of the Increase for Qualified Child payment for children over and under 12 years old since 2020, taking the weekly rates from €34 for those under 12 and €37 for those aged 12 or over in 2019 to €42 for those under 12 and €50 for those aged 12 or over in 2023.
The Report of the Child Maintenance Review Group was published last November and the Government accepted the Group's recommendations in relation to the social welfare system. As a result, the "efforts to seek maintenance" requirement is no longer applied; the liable relative provisions are not being applied to new claims and child maintenance payments will be disregarded in the means test meaning that many lone parents currently on reduced rates of payment will see their payment increase.
The number of One-Parent Family Payment recipients by county, in January 2022 and January 2023, is set out in tabular form below.
|
County |
Number of recipients |
|
|
January 2022 |
January 2023 |
|
|
Carlow |
652 |
666 |
|
Cavan |
456 |
478 |
|
Clare |
706 |
886 |
|
Cork |
3,722 |
3,772 |
|
Donegal |
1,160 |
1,407 |
|
Dublin |
13,771 |
14,674 |
|
Galway |
1,349 |
1,199 |
|
Kerry |
1,096 |
1,040 |
|
Kildare |
1,495 |
1,410 |
|
Kilkenny |
506 |
518 |
|
Laois |
739 |
770 |
|
Leitrim |
151 |
160 |
|
Limerick |
1,926 |
1,556 |
|
Longford |
473 |
488 |
|
Louth |
1,813 |
1,882 |
|
Mayo |
838 |
846 |
|
Meath |
868 |
921 |
|
Monaghan |
415 |
430 |
|
Offaly |
686 |
724 |
|
Roscommon |
268 |
274 |
|
Sligo |
463 |
457 |
|
Tipperary |
1,477 |
1,513 |
|
Waterford |
1,346 |
1,357 |
|
Westmeath |
876 |
907 |
|
Wexford |
1,504 |
1,512 |
|
Wicklow |
1,088 |
1,110 |
|
Total |
39,844 |
40,957 |
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
