One Family briefs TDs on crises impacting one-parent families and urge them to “Get It Right”

26th March 2026

One Family will brief TDs and policymakers in the AV Room at Leinster House today about critical issues impacting one-parent families across Ireland. Urgent political action is needed on issues including family law reform, child poverty, family homelessness and access to education for one-parent families across Ireland.

Event speakers include:

• Professor Katriona O’Sullivan, author of Poor
• Naomi Connolly, Parent from One Family Advocacy Project
• Joyce, New Futures Employability Programme Participant
• Karen Kiernan, CEO One Family
• Sinéad Gibney, Social Democrats TD and Lone Parent

TDs will be given a policy brief outlining critical issues in these areas and actions they can take, including:

• Prevent family homelessness by increasing housing assistance payments in line with market rents and increasing funding for tenant-in-situ scheme.
• Include one-parent families as a named group in government’s new Child & Family Homelessness Action Plan.

• Extend Jobseekers Transitional Payment for lone parents until their youngest child is 18.
• Invest in out-of-court supports such as parenting courses, counselling and mediation to help families reach child-centred agreements and avoid family court where possible.
• Fund specialised services nationwide that support families experiencing high levels of conflict or domestic violence, such as One Family’s Separating Well for Children service.
• Move from a “work-activation” government approach for lone parents on social protection to an evidence-based “education-first” one. This would address high levels of in-work poverty and create long-term savings for government, along with financial security for families.

Professor Katriona O’Sullivan, Author of “Poor” said:
For far too long we have let the most vulnerable carry the brunt of the unequal distribution of wealth. Now is the time for this to stop. Now is the time for us to do better. We are a rich country; our GDP is one of the highest in the EU- yet the rate of children at risk of poverty is growing year on year; and the distance between the rich and the poor is expanding. Lone parent families are the most affected by poverty. They are the ones being left behind in terms of access to education and high status employment. As someone who benefited from excellent policies which were in place in the late 90’s I know first hand how important it is to support people out of the poverty trap. I know first hand how wonderful it is to be cared for by state policies, to be given the opportunity to achieve great things. One Family’s Get It Right campaign offers a clear blueprint on how to address these issues. We know how to solve these issues- the question is are we brave enough, do we care enough. We need the political will and courage of convictions from our elected representatives to action the steps being proposed by the Get It Right campaign.”

Naomi Connolly, Lone Parent, One Family Advocacy Project said:
“For many people fleeing abuse, the lack of available properties means that even with supports like Domestic Violence HAP, there is simply nowhere to go. Survivors are faced with an impossible choice: accept placement in homeless accommodation, which can be unsafe and unsuitable for children, or return to the family home and risk further abuse. This stark reality forces victims to weigh the fear and instability of homelessness against the dangers of remaining in a violent environment, highlighting the urgent need for genuine, accessible housing solutions for those escaping domestic violence.”

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family said:
“One-parent families across Ireland are being impacted by multiple, interconnected criseis. As the recent SILC data shows, enforced deprivation and consistent poverty rose for one-parent families in 2025, even with cost-of-living measures in place and these have now disappeared. 48.7% of children in one-parent families are living in deprivation and 58% of homeless families are one-parent families; this is a shocking statistic which should be prompting urgent political action. But there are solutions and we welcome the opportunity to brief TDs and policymakers on the evidence-based actions they can take to address, not only poverty, but family homelessness, family law and access to education.”

Sinéad Gibney, TD said:
“I raised my daughter as a single mum. One-parent families are a huge part of Irish society, but they’re often pushed out to the margins. Right now, we have too many lone parents and their children living in poverty, in homelessness, made vulnerable by a system that isn’t built for them. This is a chance to look at how we can create an Ireland where all families are cherished equally, where one-parent families are supported and celebrated.”

You can learn more about One Family’s Get It Right campaign by watching the campaign video.

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For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie

Notes to Editor:

• One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating. We have been working with one-parent families for over 50 years. We provide a range of direct services to parents and children, along with campaigning and advocating for legislative and social change to deliver true equality for all families. Services include direct family support, parenting courses, New Futures employability programme, AskOneFamily helpline and counselling for those experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy.
• One Family was hosted in the AV Briefing Room by Sinéad Gibney, TD, Social Democrats.

21st March 2026 

To mark International Single Parents Day, One Family have launched their #GetItRight campaign, calling for urgent government action on family law, child poverty, family homelessness and access to education for one-parent families across Ireland.  

If Government gets services, policies and legislation right for one-parent families, then they will be right for all families in Ireland. 

We’re calling on government to: 

Invest in out-of-court supports: Not only would this address lengthy court waiting times, but it would also provide best outcomes for children. Families need support, parenting courses, mediation and counselling to avoid adversarial, traumatic court cases. This should include funding for specialised services that support families experiencing high levels of conflict or domestic violence, such as One Family’s Separating Well for Children service, and therapeutic services for children.   

Target Child Poverty: Most poor children in Ireland live in one-parent families and lone parents experience high levels of in-work poverty. If the government wants to reduce child poverty, they can do this by targeting one-parent families. An efficient way of doing this is by increasing the amount of income excluded for lone parents who receive One Parent Family Payment or Jobseekers Transitional Payment to €222.75 per week; the equivalent of 16 working hours at National Minimum Wage.  

Stop Family Homelessness: Government cannot accept monthly increases in child and family homelessness as normal. They need to immediately fund homelessness prevention, including the tenant-in-situ scheme, and increase housing assistance payments in line with local market rents. These payments were last increased in 2022 and the gap between the payment and rent that parents are forced to bridge is fuelling poverty, deprivation and increasing family homelessness. 

Improve Access to Education: Move from a “work-activation” government approach to lone parents on social welfare to an evidence-based “education-first” one. This would address high levels of in-work poverty and create long-term savings for government, along with financial security for families.   

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family said: 

“We have achieved huge, positive changes for one-parent families in Ireland since our organisation was founded 54 years ago and that is to be welcomed and acknowledged. But we’ve moved from putting lone parents in institutions to placing them in systems which harm them. This includes a family law system which doesn’t deliver a child-centred approach, a housing crisis which has created epidemic levels of family homelessness in one-parent families and a “work-activation” approach to lone parents and employment, which fuels high levels of in-work poverty.  

Throughout 2026, our #GetItRight campaign will highlight these issues and our solutions to solving them. These are fixable issues, but we need action from our government and commitment to positive change. We look forward to political engagement on these critical issues for one-parent families.” 

You can watch the campaign video on One Family’s website now.  

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For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie   

Notes to Editor:  

1. One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating. We have been working with one-parent families for over 50 years. We provide a range of direct services to parents and children, along with campaigning and advocating for legislative and social change to deliver true equality for all families. Services include direct family support, parenting courses, New Futures employability programme, AskOneFamily helpline and counselling for those experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. You can learn more about One Family at www.onefamily.ie  

For immediate release – Monday 20^th October  

Lone parents are prevented from equally accessing higher education, due to systemic barriers and insufficient financial supports, thereby negatively impacting on their long-term employment.  

“Education first? Lone parents’ lived experience of the challenges and benefits of participating in Higher Education” by Dr Fiona Dukelow (UCC), Dr Margaret Scanlon (UCC), Edith Busteed (UCC) and Dr Joe Whelan (TCD) highlights: 

• Lone parents remain under-represented in higher education¹, with both institutions and policymakers lacking data on their participation  
   

• Lone parents are not provided with clear pathways to higher education, which can create a reliance on state support if prevented from attaining well-paid, secure jobs. which is a critical anti-poverty measure for one-parent families 
   

• Lone parents face multiple additional barriers to higher education including a failure to acknowledge the additional care responsibilities they hold, not being provided sufficient financial supports to cover the real cost of education, housing, transport and childcare 

The research recommended that: 
 

• Government to move from a “work activation” to an “education first” approach for lone parents, which would increase their ability to attain high-paid, secure work. 
   

• Lone parents are given adequate financial and educational supports. SUSI grants and social welfare payments should fully reflect the real cost of participation. Access to affordable, quality childcare and secure housing must be made available. Supports must meet the needs of lone parent students, and more flexible learning options made available  

• Improved data collection and accountability from the Higher Education Authority and Department of Social Protection, including data collection on lone parent participation in higher education and for the Higher Education Authority to set clear participation targets in future Access Strategies. 

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family said: 
 
“We are delighted to be a research partner for this critical report. One-parent families on low incomes experience some of the highest levels of poverty, deprivation, social exclusion and homelessness in Ireland. To exit poverty requires a clear pathway to further or higher education, and the current system prevents lone parents from doing that, due to a lack of supports and too many barriers to their education. Access to education is a critical anti-poverty measure for one-parent families and government need to recognise that. We need free childcare for lone parents in higher education, adequate financial supports to cover the full cost of their education, and improved supports tailored to meet the needs of students who are parenting alone, so that they are met with understanding and a supportive system that empowers them to achieve their goals.” 
 
Dr Fiona Dukelow, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University College Cork said: 
 

“Lone parent students are a largely invisible group in higher education. They are also a very diverse group of students. Despite being recognised as a group whose access and participation in higher education needs to increase, behind this policy commitment lies a lack of data, a lack of targets and a lack of policy supports that would make a difference to lone parents who are considering or who are in higher education. The research reveals the huge challenges lone parents face as students, but also the huge importance of higher education to their and their children’s wellbeing, and why improving policy supports across a whole range of areas, from financial supports, to childcare, to higher education supports, is critical to improving their access, participation and student experience”.  
 
Lynn Ruane, Keynote Speaker for the research launch said:  

“I really welcome this important research which should be read by every policy maker and politician who wants to see an end to poverty in this country. The research restates what we already know; that education can play a key role in ending child and family poverty through targeted, tailored and meaningful supports as well as guaranteed funding that dismantles the structural barriers faced by those parenting alone and their children. Whole families depend on adequate state and higher education interventions which provide choices, but they need to be clearly illuminated and easily accessible.”   
 
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For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie  
 
1. HEA (2022) ‘National Access Plan 2022-2028′ 
 
The full research report can be accessed here: https://onefamily.ie/policy/research/ 

1. The research was conducted by a team of researchers at University College Cork, Dr Fiona Dukelow, Dr Margaret Scanlon and Edith Busteed, in collaboration with Dr Joe Whelan, Trinity College Dublin and in partnership with One Family. It was funded by Research Ireland under its New Foundations programme which supports research partnerships with community and voluntary organisations to conduct research that enhances services and their impact. The research was conducted in response to the inequities of the significant higher education attainment gap between lone parents and the general population. Through a survey across higher education institutions, interviews and diary keeping with lone parent students it documented the challenges and benefits lone parents encounter in accessing and participating in higher education. The policy implications for increasing the participation of lone parents in higher education to achieve equitable outcomes for lone parents and their families are also explored. 

2. One Family Ireland was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. These services include the askonefamily national helpline on 0818 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.