Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan is to host a national consultative forum in Farmleigh House, Dublin, tomorrow to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Government discussion paper on proposals for supporting lone parents.
Mr Brennan said the forum had been called so as to provide a platform for all views to be aired and for all sections of society to be heard on an issue of enormous importance.
The forum will address in particular the social exclusion and risk of poverty faced by many one-parent families and the range of radical proposals for reforms that were put forward, the Minister said.
Those attending will include lone-parent organisations; anti-poverty organisations; child support organisations; men's support groups; family support groups; members of the Dáil and Seanad; national social and economic research organisations; and relevant Government departments.
There are 80,000 lone parents - almost 98 per cent of them women - in receipt of one-parent family payments, at a cost last year of some €770 million.