Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to move on to another issue. People can respond if they wish. I want to make an observation on the issue of access and that kind of stuff. Ms Brady picked up this, and it is a point I have previously raised about contact centres. For a time, I was on the board of management of a family centre in Togher in Cork that had a top-class, excellent contact facility. An issue was raised locally by Judge Con O'Leary. At one stage, it was in a position to facilitate contact from Tusla referrals and referrals from Judge Con O'Leary and, more generally, from family cases. The only contact it currently provides is where there is a child protection issue and that reduces the scope and the options available to family law judges. It has really excellent facilities and huge potential and I would very much advocate and support greater investment in it.

On access and maintaining relationships, as far as I can see, an awful lot of local authorities do not properly take into account where an applicant to the housing list has access rights. They are very often treated as single applicants and that is an issue that needs to be addressed. I frequently come across that issue.

Mr. Walsh touched on another issue I frequently come across. Maintenance is a significant issue for an awful lot of parents. In the overwhelming number of cases, mothers have difficulty getting maintenance to which they are entitled. They often do not want to go down the formal route and accessing maintenance can be difficult. There is a child maintenance service in Britain, although I am not very familiar with the mechanism involved. I do not know if any of our guests are familiar with it or if they have any views on whether it is good, bad or something we should consider.