Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Before we move on, in fairness, an issue that Deputy Kerrane raised consistently when she was a member of this committee was that of a child maintenance service and the establishment of one. Our remit in relation to this is effectively evaporating with the enactment of this legislation. It is now really the responsibility of the Department of Justice. To come back to what Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said earlier, in the context of the statistics that Deputy Collins has just provided, there is the opposite of a chilling effect in relation to the enactment of this legislation. It is sending out a message that the State is not going to pursue its element of the recoupment of maintenance that is being paid under the one-parent family scheme. I know that is not the intention of this legislation but the committee as a whole should write to the Minister for Justice and the justice committee expressing our reservations regarding the impact of this legislation. We should point out that there is a legal responsibility on the other parent to make legally binding maintenance payments in relation to children and that we are anxious this is pursued by the justice committee and adequate resources are provided to the Courts Service by the Minister for Justice. With the agreement of this committee we will write to both the Minister for Justice and our counterpart committee seeking to have this specific issue addressed.

I am sure it will come up in the course of Second Stage and Committee Stage of the enactment of this legislation. It is the firm view of members present, which was also strongly articulated by Deputy Kerrane when she was a member of this committee.