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

This report has been long-awaited by many Members of the House, who had asked for many years for child maintenance to be examined. The establishment of this review group was very welcome, and I am glad it has reported and that the report is with the Minister. With regard to bringing the report to Cabinet when the Minister has gone through it, and I appreciate that she will have to engage with the Department of Justice and so forth because it is not just a social protection issue but involves a number of Departments, does she envisage bringing proposals to the Cabinet on the back of what is outlined in the report? As I presume there are a number of recommendations, how does she foresee going about that? Organisations such as Single Parents Acting for Rights of Kids, SPARK, and One Family have asked for a long time for this type of work to be done. There are massive issues and complications for lone parent families when it comes to child maintenance. It can put a lot of lone parents in a really difficult situation, so we must get this right. Will the Minister outline the process after she brings it to the Cabinet?

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