Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to shift the focus. We seem to have been focusing quite a bit on care and those with disabilities in education. I want to look to what is often the hidden side of gender equality, that is, the men in our world. Gender inequality is failing men and women. It is not just one side of that equation.

I want to talk for a moment about the paternity leave payment. This committee has heard from different groups, and it is what they hear from those with whom they work, that the level at which the payment is currently set - I know it increased to €262 per week in the budget - is actually a barrier to men availing of paternity leave. Primarily, if we also take into consideration that the mother of the child may not be having her own wages topped up by the employer, it reduces the family income significantly at a time when their costs are actually increasing with a new addition to the household. Has any work been undertaken to date around potentially linking the paternity leave payment to earned income in the previous period? Does the Department correlate data on the percentage of new parents, both mums and dads, who have their wages topped up by employers? The people who do not have their wages topped up by employers are other side of the equation. My understanding is that if it is being topped up, the payment is made directly to the employer and the employer continues to pay the wages. Does the Department have a percentage breakdown around that?

On the payment of child maintenance and the child maintenance service, my understanding is that, for a single parent to qualify for the one-parent family payment, that person must prove he or she has sought maintenance from the other party. It does not take into account whether that maintenance has actually been paid. We know single parent households are more likely to experience poverty. In that regard, what is the Department's anticipated response where the other parent is not fulfilling his or her maintenance obligations? It would mean the payment of the parent who has custody being reduced by the amount of maintenance he or she is not actually receiving. Will Mr. Hession please address those two issues?