Ms Karen Kiernan:

Under the Scandinavian model, the state pays the child and parent upfront and recoups the payment from the liable relative. That is the gold standard because it ensures the child is not living in poverty and the parent who needs the money gets it. There are other systems. Senator Ruane has done a lot of work on a Bill to deal with child maintenance, including looking at the Inland Revenue model in New Zealand. One of the reasons we recommended research is that things can look good but one must speak to the end user to find out the reality. We know from speaking to people in Scotland and elsewhere in Britain that there are significant difficulties with their systems and parents in Britain have to pay to use them. Where the parent of a child is not paying for that child, the other parent has to pay to use the system to recoup payment. It is very difficult to get a perfect system and it requires a little research to get it right. Ultimately, as Dr. Shannon said, it is about taking matters as much as possible out of court and away from conflict. The focus should be on doing it for the child. That is what is really important and we have missed it in Ireland until now. I thank Deputy Smyth for her questions.