An organisation representing one parent families says it has seen a 50% rise in calls to its helpline so far this year.

It says the biggest concern from callers is the recent changes to the One-Parent Family Allowance.

Earlier this summer reform to the payment, which was announced in a previous Budget came into effect.

It meant that thousands of lone parents would no longer receive the allowance, which was worth around €180 every week for some.Instead they moved to different payments.

The Government said the changes were introduced to reduce social welfare dependency and to increase job prospects

However, in its annual review today, the organisation "One Family" said it received over 2,000 calls so far this year, with the changes to the scheme being the main cause for concern.

It said the reforms have been catastrophic as families experience huge cuts in their income.

The organisation said the Government must prioritise improving the situation of those families.

In response the Department of Social Protection said today that the overwhelming majority of lone parents who moved out of the scheme suffered no income loss or actually gained.