Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the commitment in the programme for Government to reform our child maintenance system. My party tabled proposals in 2018, and a revised version in 2019, on establishing a child maintenance service, which is badly needed. Lone parent families feature too highly in rates of consistent poverty, deprivation and beingat risk of poverty. They need to be considered. Evidence shows that the payment of maintenance can make a difference when it comes to poverty. As such, I welcome the Minister's commitment in that regard. I appreciate that this interlinks with the Department of Justice and Equality, but I see no reason it could not be done if the two Departments worked together. Will the Minister examine Sinn Féin's proposals on establishing a child maintenance service similar to the one that works well in the North?

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