Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 49 together.

We had a conversation about this under an earlier question. The Family Law Acts are the civil legislation that requires a man or woman, who wants to claim maintenance from their spouse, to go to family mediation or seek redress through the courts. There is a condition in the one-parent family payment in my Department that a parent must make all reasonable efforts to get maintenance from the other parent for the upbringing of their children, which is as it should be. However, in the past week a very brave young woman went public with her story of how she fell between the cracks of what should have been a robust process but was a process which actually failed her.

I met that lovely lady and her gorgeous little man on Friday and we spoke at length of her experience. I heard of the language that was used towards her and the letters she received and I gave her my commitment that I would resolve the issue. Since then, I have met with Women's Aid which is kindly going to take the letters away and redraft them so that, if they were accidentally received by someone in a vulnerable position, they would not make that person as fearful and full of dread as Kate - which is not her real name - was during the week. They will return the new draft to me in the next couple of weeks.

We also agreed that Women's Aid would draw up an accredited training programme for me and give it, in conjunction with our staff development unit, to anyone who is involved in front-line services in the Department so that they are equipped to deal with specific instances of domestic or sexual abuse when people present for that purpose.

If a woman or a man arrives in a local office and tells us of an experience of domestic violence, we will believe them - end of story. There will be no requirement for court orders or protection orders or other legal structures in such cases. We will believe the person presenting and we will make changes to our internal IT systems so that their electronic record shows no letters for maintenance recovery will ever again be sent to them.

See this speech in context