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

My point is that liability should not end when the youngest child turns seven years. The legislation would be to extend the liable relatives unit to seek that contribution beyond the child turning seven years which in some cases is a cliff edge because in some cases, the non-custodial parent does not continue making that contribution. They certainly do not continue making it to the State because it lapses. I do not see an issue with extending the legislation and allowing the non-custodial parent to keep making that contribution because in some cases they are making it to the State.

It is really important that the maintenance review group was established and I look forward to its findings. I hope that it will put forward something we have advocated for years, namely, the establishment of a statutory child maintenance service that will calculate and collect to guarantee that child maintenance is paid in the first place. I hope that the review group will make this suggestion. We need to stop sending lone parents into court. Courthouses are not the place to decide maintenance. It should not happen. It is not the right system. I hope that this legislation will be rectified once the review group comes forward with its report.

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