Cut funds to lone parents of teens, says Hanafin

SOCIAL Affairs minister Mary Hanafin has claimed plans to cut vital financial support to 87,840 single parent families would be in the best interest of Ireland’s economic future.

Ms Hanafin is proposing that any lone parent family with a teenage child will be barred from accessing the state aid.

Under the current scheme, a lone-parent family receives a means-tested payment each year until their child reaches 18, or until the age of 22 if they are in full-time education.