Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Data from the 2022 survey on income and living conditions shows that those living in one-adult households with children under 18 years were among the groups most likely to experience enforced deprivation, at over 43% compared to nearly 18% of the population as a whole. The treatment of child maintenance payments within the Department of Social Protection as means, and the requirement to make efforts to seek maintenance as a condition of eligibility for the one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment has hampered efforts to address the deprivation figures I opened with. While I welcome that these two issues are being addressed in the Bill finally being put forward today, I have to highlight my concern that what is missing from this legislation is the establishment of a statutory maintenance agency.

In March 2017, the United Nations published a report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which suggested that consideration be given to the establishment of a statutory maintenance authority to reduce the burden on parents of having to seek child maintenance orders. It has been pointed out by the National One Parent Family Alliance that a failure to establish such a statutory maintenance agency could result in a loss of child maintenance for parents receiving the one-parent family allowance and an increase in lone parents seeking child maintenance through the family courts. We know that when non-resident parents are directed to switch payment of maintenance from the Department to the other parent, the transitional period results in a 60% drop in maintenance payments. The One Parent Family Alliance told the Oireachtas social protection committee that it is concerned that the likelihood of this could increase as oversight drops, leaving hard-pressed lone parents increasingly having to address this through the courts.

Sinn Féin has been consistent in promoting the need for a what we have referred to as a child maintenance service for Ireland. This would remove the adversarial court approach and ensure that the child is central to any decisions on the child maintenance to be paid. This service must have the necessary enforcement powers to actually ensure maintenance is paid. Our child maintenance service would also assist parents in reaching agreements on maintenance where the non-custodial parent is willing to pay. In cases where they are not so willing, it would calculate the child maintenance payment, collect it from the non-custodial parent and pay it to the other parent. I urge the Minister to discuss this with the Minister for Justice. We have also proposed increasing the age limit for the one-parent family payment to 12 years and we would begin the process of increasing the age limit for the jobseeker's transitional payment to 18.

Finally, I have been told many times that maintenance payments are affecting the rent or HAP contributions people are expected to pay. Could the Government examine the possibility of excluding maintenance in the assessment of means for housing support and contributions under HAP?

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