Askonefamily Helpline

askonefamily is the helpline for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and for those separating. We also provide information and support to professionals, family members and friends. You will find information here about changes to how child maintenance is assessed by the Department of Social Protection.
You can view the 2024 Budget Fact Sheet here.

We have produced information and resources which are provided above under various categories.

We are always updating and improving the information we provide. If you have any feedback on the information on our website, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please send any feedback about our information pages to our Information Manager, Valerie Maher at vmaher@onefamily.ie

We provide detailed, confidential information on social welfare entitlements and finances, family law, housing, education, childcare and parenting. We also offer a listening support service for people who need support parenting alone, sharing parenting or separating.

By providing support through listening, we’re allowing someone to feel heard. By giving someone the space to share their feelings, even the uncomfortable ones like sadness, anger or grief, we’re allowing them to lighten the load they’re carrying. While being there for someone, it’s ok that we might not have a solution.  In fact, there are some stressors or situations that do not have a realistic or immediate solution.  Often a person is just simply looking for validation and support, particularly when trying to deal with separation or parenting alone.

By listening and validating someone’s experience and feelings, we’re reinforcing that you are not alone.  Even if we haven’t been through the same event, we can empathise and normalise your reactions and feelings.

Listening support is not counselling or therapy, but we can provide information on how to access these supports, if needed.

Call the askonefamily helpline on 0818 662 212* or 01 662 9212

You can also email your query to: helpline@onefamily.ie

Or you can Direct Mail (DM) us on social media – Facebook and Twitter 

* While calls to 0818 are not free, they are included in customer call bundles that include calls to landlines or, out of bundle, charged at the Standard Rate, which is no more than the cost of calling a landline.

The helpline is open Monday to Friday from 10am- 3pm. We may be able to accept calls outside of these times but that cannot be guaranteed.

You can email the helpline at any time, and we will respond as soon as possible. We aim to reply within 48 hours but sometimes it can be a little longer during busy periods.

When you call the helpline number, the call will be answered by a One Family administrator. You can simply ask to be put through to the helpline, it is not necessary to offer any further information at that point, but you may wish to indicate the reason for your call. The staff member will ask you for your first name and connect you to a trained helpline worker who can assist you further. If nobody is available when you call, we will take your contact details (first name and number) and one of the helpline team will call you back.

Your feedback helps us improve our services. If you used our helpline either by phone or email, we would love to hear how we did. Please click the link above to complete our two minute survey. Thank you.