Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know that Deputy Kerrane is passionate about this, and we have had many a good and very constructive discussion on it. Senator Ruane is also passionate about this and has done a lot of work on it also. I met her only recently. In fairness, I have always said I recognise the problem that was there. The Deputy has heard me talk about it before when I have spoken about my time working in a credit union and the issues I saw first-hand there. These are significant reforms we are making, and between us Oireachtas Members and the group itself, this is a case of women leading the way.

On the question of the establishment of a child maintenance agency, the group did not reach a consensus. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has announced significant reforms to make the family courts system more accessible and family-friendly. We need to see how those reforms bed in. As part of the reforms, the Department of Justice will undertake a review of enforcement of child maintenance orders in the first half of 2023, and proposals for reform will look at strengthening attachment orders, which is the secret to all this, and examining the feasibility of introducing guidelines on child maintenance amounts.

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