The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has indicated she is considering making it compulsory for lone parents to look for work if they are going to continue to get welfare payments.
The One Family organisation has strongly urged Mary Hanafin to use voluntary measures instead and to build on a strong motivation among parents to work.
The minister was speaking at the launch of the largest study yet of a sample of the 85,000 recipients of the One Parent Family Payment.
Out of 1,600 surveyed, 84% are working, looking for work or engaged in education or training.
Just as the UK government is compelling lone parents of children aged 12 or over to seek work or lose benefit, One Family underlined that all local authorities there were first obliged to provide childcare.
Its spokesperson, Candy Murphy, opposed Ms Hanafin's predecessor's proposal that compulsion be introduced in Ireland when the youngest child reaches either 12 or seven. She conceded that if the voluntary approach did not work, her organisation would consider compulsion.
But Minister Hanafin said two departmental pilot studies indicated the voluntary approach was not working.
She pointed to the need for a more active process to encourage and empower lone parents to seek assistance. She said seven years of age was too low a cut-off point for introducing compulsion and that she hoped to make a proposal on the matter next spring.
