After-school service sporadic - Ó Cuív

THE AVAILABILITY of after-school services for children of poorer working parents is sporadic around the State, Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív has conceded.

But Mr Ó Cuív said yesterday the Government would work to ensure the services are in place by the time its decision to reform the single parents’ welfare system comes into effect.

Under the new terms outlined in the Social Welfare Bill, single parents whose youngest child is over 13 will no longer be able to claim one-parent family payments. The allowance is paid to a lone parent until the youngest child reaches 18 or 22 if the child is in full-time education.

After criticism of the changes, Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Mr Ó Cuív, and former social affairs minister Mary Hanafin clarified the changes this weekend. Mr Cowen and Mr Ó Cuív emphasised that the rules would only come into effect for new customers next April.

Speaking on RTÉ yesterday, Mr Ó Cuív rejected the proposition it would force mothers into exploitative jobs. “That is misconstruing it,” he said.

Mr Ó Cuív said the measure would encourage single parents back into work rather than being dependent on welfare.

He agreed there was a need for increased provision of after-school service for children above 13 attending secondary school.

He agreed the service was less than ideal, but said the gaps would be addressed in the six year lead-in period. “It’s patchy around the country, I grant you. In the lead-in time, we will work together . . . to resolve the issues,” he said.

Mr Cowen said the new rules were not cost-cutting measures but were anti-poverty policies, designed to take single-parent families out of the poverty trap.

“It is about trying to reduce dependency and provide opportunities to people who would otherwise find themselves locked into the social welfare system,” said Mr Cowen.