Untitled Document

Money ©

Raising a child is expensive. It is important to be aware of all the various options and schemes that you can avail of to help you financially.

Money ©

New! How Budget 2012 affects you as a Lone Parent

Money during pregnancy

Money if you are not working outside the home following the birth of your baby

Money if you are working outside the home following the birth of your baby

Rent Supplement

Income tax / Universal Social Charge

Opportunities in education and training

Habitual residence condition

How Budget 2012 affects you as a Lone Parent

In Budget 2012, the following changes were made to the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) which may have an effect on your payment.

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

The rates of payment for One-Parent Family Payment remain unchanged in 2012. To get a One-Parent Family Payment a single parent must have at least one child below the age limit.

Change to age limit of the youngest child on an OFP claim*

PLEASE NOTE: That changes in relation to age limit will not come into effect until new legislation has been enacted, probably in April 2012!

The age limit of the youngest child for One-Parent Family Payment entitlement purposes is gradually being reduced to seven years of age.

The reduction in the age limit is being applied to new and existing customers on a phased basis and will not affect existing customers until 2013.

These new arrangements will apply as follows depending on whether your claim was made:

Prior to 27 April 2011
Between 27 April 2011 and April 2012 OR
After April 2012.

The table below sets out the details. Payment of the One-Parent Family Payment will cease if the youngest child on your claim reaches the age specified in the year in the table below.

	Payment continues up to age
	2012	2013	2014	2015
If your claim commenced before 27 April 2011	18	17	16	7
If your claim commenced between 27 April, 2011 and April, 2012	14	12	10	7
If your claim starts after April 2012	12	10	7

If you have an entitlement to One-Parent Family Payment based on the age of the youngest child in your family, payment of an increase for a Qualified Child will continue for the older children in the family unit they reach 18 or 22 years if they are in full-time education.

Extension of Youngest Child Age in Certain Circumstances

Special provisions have been put in place for customers who are in receipt of the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA). In these cases, One-Parent Family Payment will remain in payment until the youngest child reaches 16 years.

Impact on earnings: One-Parent Family Payment, Work and New Means Test

The amount of earnings disregarded in the One-Parent Family Payment means test will be reduced from €146.50 to €130.00 per week from January 2012 for new and existing recipients. Further reductions will be introduced over the following 4 years:

In 2013 the amount of earnings disregarded will be €110 per week
In 2014 the amount of earnings disregarded will be €90 per week
In 2015 the amount of earnings disregarded will be €75 per week
In 2016 the amount of earnings disregarded will be €60 per week

The temporary payment of half of the rate of One-Parent Family Payment to a parent on OFP whose earnings exceed €425 per week will be discontinued from January 2012. Existing recipients of the temporary payment will not be affected.

Procedure for claiming further benefits when One-Parent Family Payment ceases

When your One-Parent Family Payment stops, if you are still in need of income support, you may be eligible for another Social Welfare payment, such as Jobseeker's Payment or, if you are in employment, Family Income Supplement may be payable. Please contact your local social welfare office at that time.

Application of Child Age Provisions to former customers who re-apply for One-Parent Family Payment

As an existing customer, if you stop claiming OFP before January 2015:

To participate in the Back to Education Scheme or
Because your earnings exceed the qualifying earnings limit for the scheme,

You can re-apply for One-Parent Family Payment based on the youngest child condition specified above.

TOP OF PAGE

Income from Home Help

From January 2012 income over €130 per week from employment as a home help funded by the HSE will be assessed in the means test for the One-Parent Family Payment.

One Parent Family Payment and concurrent social welfare payments

From February, if your circumstances change and you become eligible for Jobseeker's Benefit, Illness Benefit or Incapacity Supplement, you can only receive the equivalent rate of one social welfare payment. You will not be able to get One-Parent Family Payment and a half-rate payment from the other scheme. However, the concurrent payment of One-Parent Family Payment with Maternity Benefit, Adoptive Benefit, Health & Safety Benefit and Carers Allowance continues.

Community Employment Scheme (CE)

From January 2012 new participants on Community Employment Schemes will not be able to claim another social welfare payment such as One-Parent Family Payment at the same time but they will receive the standard additional €20 per week paid to other participants.

Payment of two qualified child increases where the person is on a Community Employment Scheme and One-Parent Family Payment will be discontinued for new and existing recipients from January 2012.

The training and material grant for CE schemes will reduce from €1,500 to €500 per participant per year from January 2012.

Child Benefit

Child Benefit rates will be maintained at €140 per month for each of the first two children. The rates applying to the third and each subsequent child will be standardised at €140 per child per month over the next two years. From January 2012 the monthly rate for the third child will be €148 and for the fourth and each subsequent child will be €160.

While the additional monthly payment for twins and triplets will be maintained, the grant of €635 paid at birth, at 4 years of age and at 12 years of age for these multiple births will cease from January 2012.

Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance

In 2012 the age at which a child is eligible for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be raised from 2 to 4 years of age.

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be reduced in 2012 from €305 to €250 for children aged 12 years or more and from €200 to €150 for children aged 4-11.

Rent and Mortgage Interest Supplement

From January 2012 the minimum contribution payable by a single parent towards rent or mortgage interest supplement will increase by €6 per week from €24 to €30 (€35 for cohabiting parents).

Cohabitants

The minimum contribution payable by cohabitants will increase by €11 per week from €24 to €35 per week.

Mortgage Interest Supplement

Payment of Mortgage Interest Supplement will be deferred for 12 months while the person engages with the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process.

TOP OF PAGE

Fuel Allowance

The Fuel Allowance season will be reduced by 6 weeks from 32 weeks to 26 weeks for all recipients in 2012. This means that the current season will end on Friday 6th of April 2012 and the fuel season for 2012/2013 will commence on Monday, 8th of October 2012.

Family Income Supplement

Income from weekly carers payments will be included in the means test for Family Income Supplement from January 2012 for new applicants and on renewal for all others.

Maternity Benefit

The rates of payment for Maternity Benefit remain unchanged.

Back to Education Allowance

The Cost of Education Allowance, the annual grant paid to participants on the Back to Education Allowance will be reduced from €500 to €300 in 2012.

Further information on the budget changes relating to social welfare schemes are available on the website of the Department of Social Protection at www.welfare.ie

Higher Education and Student Grants

Student grants will be reduced by 3% from January 2012.

There will be no maintenance payments for new entrant postgraduate students.

Youthreach and FÁS

The two existing allowances paid to 16 & 17 year olds participating in Youthreach, Community Training Centres and FÁS courses are being merged and reduced to one standard rate of €40 for new entrants from January 2012. Currently participants on these courses receive €76.65 per week if aged 16 and €95.75 per week if aged 17.

Further information regarding changes to the education budget are available on the website of the Department of Education and Science at www.education.ie

Childcare - Community Education & Training Support (CETS) programme

Under this programme, childcare is provided to certain FAS and VEC trainees by Childcare services who in turn receive a capitation payment of €170. From September 2012, this capitation will be reduced to €145, and services will be allowed charge a fee of up to €25 per week to parents. The charge that a parent will pay will vary, depending on the costs of childcare services and the fees they normally charge parents and the type of place being availed of (fullday, half-day or after-school). The maximum amounts allowable are €25 for full daycare, with pro-rata reductions for half-day and after-school places.

Further information on the budget changes relating to Childcare Funding is available on the website of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs at www.dcya.ie

Income Tax

Tax Credits

There are no changes to tax credits in 2012.

Tax Rates and Tax Bands

The tax rates and tax bands remain unchanged at 20% (standard rate) and 41% (higher rate). A single parent will be taxed at the rate of 20% for the first €36,800 that they earn and the remainder will be taxed at 41%.

Universal Social Charge

In 2011 the Universal Social Charge was paid by anyone who earned more than €4,004 per year.

From January 2012 those who earn less than €10,035 per year will not have to pay the Universal Social Charge.

Further information on the Universal Social Charge is available on the website of the Revenue Commissioners at www.revenue.ie

TOP OF PAGE

Money during pregnancy

If you are not working:

Make direct contact with your Social Welfare Office and check what you may be entitled to, for example, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Jobseeker’s Benefit.

Bring your birth certificate with you.

Apply to your local health centre as you may be entitled to:

Supplementary Welfare Allowance
Medical Card / G.P. Visit Card
Rent or Mortgage Interest Supplement
Help towards the cost of necessary items (buggy, cot etc)

If you are working:

You may qualify for Maternity Benefit if you have paid enough Social Insurance Contributions (check with the Maternity Benefit Section). See below.
You should apply for Maternity Benefit at least 6 weeks before you intend to go on Maternity Leave.
You may also be entitled to Health and Safety Benefit/Leave if there is a risk for you in your work while you are pregnant or breastfeeding and your employer cannot remove the risk or assign you alternative risk-free duties.

How much maternity benefit will I get?

If you qualify for Maternity Benefit you will get 80% of your average weekly earnings in the relevant tax year, subject to a minimum and maximum payment. This means that you won’t get less than €217.80 or more than €262 per week.

You can get Maternity Benefit for the 26 weeks of Maternity Leave.

If you are already receiving One-Parent Family Payment you may still be entitled to half rate Maternity Benefit if you satisfy the contribution conditions.

For further information contact:

Maternity Benefit Section
Locall 1890 690 690

Health and Safety Benefit Section
Locall 1890 690 690

Medical care

Ante-natal (before birth) care and post-natal (after birth) care in the public health services are generally free to all women. In certain circumstances, and in some regions, charges are made for the services.

Maternity leave

You are entitled to Maternity Leave no matter how recently you have started work or how many hours you work per week. You are entitled to 26 weeks Maternity Leave.

You can also take an additional 16 weeks Maternity Leave, but you won’t get Maternity Benefit for these extra 16 weeks.

Parental leave

Each parent is entitled to 14 weeks unpaid parental leave for each child. The leave must be taken before the child is 8 years old.

For more information on how to avail of Maternity/Parental Leave contact the Equality Authority at LoCall 1890 245 545

TOP OF PAGE

Money if you are not working outside the home following the birth of your baby

One-Parent Family Payment (0FP)

You are entitled to One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) if you:

Have at least one child below the relevant age limit*

Have the main care of your child

Are not cohabiting

Satisfy the means test

Satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition

Your entitlement to OFP is not affected:

By having the father’s name on the birth certificate
If you are living at home with your family
If you are still at school or college

The current maximum rate of OFP for a parent plus one child is €217.80. For every additional child you get €29.80 each per week.

*For parents applying for OFP up to the end of April 2012, their youngest child must be under 14. There are proposed changes to the age limit of child, see 'Budget 2012' above.

Things you should know about maintenance payments

You will be asked by the Department of Social Protection to try and get maintenance from the father of your child after your payment has been granted even if the father’s name is not on the birth certificate.
If you get maintenance from the other parent then your OFP will be reduced by about half of the amount of maintenance you get.
Maintenance paid directly to the Department by one parent will not be passed on to the other parent.
Rent or mortgage payments may be allowed against maintenance up to a maximum of €95.23 per week.

If you are getting Rent or Mortgage Interest Supplement (commonly referred to as Rent Allowance) from the Health Service Executive:

The first €95.23 of maintenance will be fully assessed for Rent Supplement purposes.
Any maintenance over €95.23 is assessed differently.

Other Entitlements

Child Benefit: €140 per month for each of the first two children. Higher amounts are paid for additional children.
The Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE): Free pre-school year for all children between the ages of 3 years and 2 months and 4 years and 7 months on 1 September of the year that they will be starting pre-school.

You may also qualify from your local health centre for:

Medical Card / G.P. Visit Card
Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
Rent Supplement
Mortgage Interest Supplement

All payments are subject to the Habitual Residence Condition.

For further information contact:

Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme
Childcare Directory Tel: 01 647 3000 (10.00-12.30 / 2.30-4.00)
www.dcya.gov.ie

Child Benefit Section
LoCall 1890 400 400

One-Parent Family Section
Locall 1890 500 000 and press 3

TOP OF PAGE

Money if you are working outside the home following the birth of your baby

One-Parent Family Payment (0FP)

You may be entitled to One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) if you:

Have at least one child below the relevant age limit*
Have the main care of your child and are not cohabiting.

Are working and satisfy the means test (see below).

Satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition.

The current maximum rate of OFP for a parent plus one child is €217.80. For every additional child you get €29.80 each per week.

*For parents applying for OFP up to the end of April 2012, their youngest child must be under 14. There are proposed changes to the age limit of child, see 'Budget 2012' above.

Means Test: What counts as means?

Income: the first €130 of weekly earnings is completely ignored - so that won’t affect your OFP. This amount will be gradually reduced to €60 in 2016. Half of the remainder of your weekly earnings up to €425 is counted as means.

Maintenance: half of any maintenance you receive will be ignored and the rest is counted as means.

Savings: the first €20,000 is ignored and the rest is counted as means.

If you earn more than €425 a week then you won’t qualify for OFP.

See below how maintenance also affects your Rent or Mortgage Interest Supplement.

What else can I keep if I am working?

You will still get your Child Benefit no matter what you are earnings.

You can keep your Medical Card / G.P. Visit Card for 3 years if you have been getting OFP for at least 12 months no matter how much you earn.

The Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE).

Family Income Supplement

You may qualify for Family Income Supplement if you are working at least 19 hours a week on low wages. For a family with one child, wages after tax plus OFP must be less than €506 per week. The rate is higher if there are more children.

TOP OF PAGE

Rent Supplement

If you are not working

You may qualify for Rent Supplement if you’re receiving a Social Welfare payment and living in private rented accommodation. You will have to make a minimum contribution of €30 per week towards the rent. The minimum contribution payable by cohabitants is €35 per week.

If you are working

If you take up part-time work (up to 30 hours a week) any ‘additional household income’ (AHI) - that is any income you receive over and above the full rate of Supplementary Welfare (€186) - will be assessed as follows:

the first €75 of AHI is ignored and

25% of anything over €75 of AHI is ignored

If you take up full-time employment (30 hours or over a week) and are getting Rent Supplement and are on a Local Authority list for housing under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) the above assessment will apply.

For details of your Local Authority contact:

Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government
LoCall 1890 20 20 21
www.environ.ie/en

You will have to make a minimum contribution of €30 per week towards the rent. The minimum contribution payable by cohabitants is €35 per week.

All payments are subject to the habitual residence condition.

For further information contact:

One-Parent Family Section
Locall 1890 500 000 and press 3

Family Income Supplement Section
Locall 1890 927 770 and press 3

Employment Support Services
Locall 1890 927 999

Facilitator at your Social Welfare Office
LoCall 1890 66 22 44
www.welfare.ie

Local Employment Services (Obair)
www.localemploymentservices.ie

TOP OF PAGE

Income tax / Universal Social Charge

You are entitled to:

Your own Personal Tax Credit of €1650

A One-Parent Family Tax Credit of €1650. This tax credit is only available if you are not cohabiting or living with a civil partner/ spouse.

A PAYE Tax Credit of €1650

A non-resident parent (not cohabiting) who keeps the child overnight for any number of nights in the year may also claim One-Parent Family Tax Credit. It is possible to apply to have this tax credit back-dated if it has not been claimed.

It is important to check with the Revenue Commissioners that you are claiming all the credits you are entitled to as an unmarried parent.

You will be taxed at the rate of 20% for the first €36,800 you earn and the rest at 41%. OFP is taxable. Family Income Supplement is not taxable.

Universal Social Charge

You will pay a Universal Social Charge (previously known as Income and Health Levy) on your gross income (income before tax) over €4,004. The following rates and thresholds apply:

2% all income up to €10,036

4% income between €10,037 and €16,016

7% income above €16,016

Social Welfare payments are exempt from the Universal Social Charge. If you have a full Medical Card you will pay 2% on income up to €10,036 and a maximum of 4% on any income over €10,036.

Revenue Commissioners' LoCall numbers:

Border, Midlands, West Region
Locall 1890 777 425

Dublin Region
Locall 1890 333 425

Southwest Region
Locall 1890 222 425

East and Southeast Region
Locall 1890 444 525

www.revenue.ie

TOP OF PAGE

Opportunities in education and training

If you are staying in school

You can still get One-Parent Family Payment (OFP). You must satisfy the conditions for OFP. Check with your school early in your pregnancy to see if you could benefit from the Home Tuition Scheme while you are pregnant.

If you have already left school

If you have already left school and want to go back to finish secondary school, VEC or college then you can switch from OFP to the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) if you have been on OFP for 6 months or more. In the case of third level courses, you may only transfer to the BTEA if you have been in receipt of OFP for at least 9 months. BTEA will allow you to keep your Medical Card / G.P. Visit Card and Rent Supplement. You will also get an annual allowance of €300.

To qualify for BTEA you must be either over 18 and two years out of education or over 21.

If you are over 21 and getting OFP for 6 months then you could apply for a Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS). It is run by the local VEC and there are no fees. Books are free and there is a small travel allowance. Some childcare money is also available. You could do your Junior or Leaving Certificate, City & Guilds etc. Check with your local VEC or see www.vtos.ie.

There might be a Youthreach near you. You can get basic and specific skills training, practical work experience and some general education. See www.youthreach.ie.

Check with your local FÁS office for details of training courses or community employment schemes in your area.

Childcare

The biggest obstacle to going back to school or college is organising and paying for childcare for your child. Some colleges have childcare attached and others can give you an allowance for childcare. Check locally to see what is available or contact your local childcare committee. See www.pobal.ie for details of your local childcare committee. For further inofrmation on childcare funding see www.dcya.ie.

Get a copy of Information for Young Parents in Education from Treoir LoCall 1890 25 20 84, info@treoir.ie or download here.

For further information:

TOP OF PAGE

Habitual Residence Condition

Habitual residence is a condition you must satisfy in order to qualify for certain social welfare payments

These payments include:

Jobseeker’s Allowance

One-Parent Family Payment

Child Benefit

Supplementary Welfare Allowance (other than once-off Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments)

Habitual residence means you have proven close links to Ireland or other parts of the Common Travel Area: Ireland, Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The most important factors for providing this link are:

Length and continuity of residence in Ireland or elsewhere

The length and purpose of any absence from Ireland

Nature and pattern of employment

Main centre of interest

Future intentions

EU Regulations and Habitual Residence

EU/EEA citizens and Swiss nationals who are employed or self- employed in Ireland and subject to the Irish Social Insurance system, do not have to satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition to qualify for Family Benefits. The following Irish social welfare payments are classified as Family Benefits under EU Regulations: