The Government has been told to stop penalising single parents who work outside the home.

Campaign group SPARK says failure to provide affordable childcare is preventing parents from holding down a job.

They also claim those who do work are hit with social welfare cuts.

Exchequer figures released on Friday show the economy is doing around €2bn better than expected - and SPARK want some of that money used to help single parents.

Speaking on the Colette Fitzpatrick Show this morning, SPARK spokeswoman Louise Bayliss explained how recent cuts have been affecting people.

"These reforms have pushed lone parents out of work," she said. "Because of the changes, it meant that a lot of people were forced to work more hours - getting more money in theory, but then they'd lose rent allowance and supplements. A lot of people have been forced to give up their jobs to go on social welfare.

"The only people who were penalised were working lone parents. Lone parents who weren't working lost nothing," she added.