Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the work that has been done on the Bill. More work can be done on it but it is heading in the right direction. Many means-tested applications take maintenance payments into account. For example, medical card applications require maintenance payments to be included for the means test. How many people have been denied medical cards due to maintenance payments bringing them over the threshold, even though that maintenance is for the children and young adults dependent on it? Legal aid costs of divorce in Ireland average at between €10,000 and €20,000 per spouse. Thankfully, legal aid exists in Ireland but maintenance payments for children and young adults are taken into account in the means test. Will there be a system to reimburse people whose applications were rejected because of the maintenance payments being included in the means test? This needs to be looked at. Maintenance payments are for the well-being of children and young adults.

Another issue is the struggle of single-parent families.

Some 57% of homeless families in this country are single-parent families. In situations where a sole breadwinner is mandated to cover a mortgage, the Department of Social Protection accepts that mortgage payments are means, treating them similarly to maintenance. I know the debate is on the Social Welfare (Liable Relatives and Child Maintenance) Bill but I wish to raise those who are not covered by it as well. I refer to people who are separated. When one looks at it, they are bringing maintenance into the equation as well.

With an average mortgage payment ranging between €1,020 and €1,361, deductions from social welfare payments place families at a significant risk of poverty. The weekly household disregard, which was set in 1997 at €95.23, fails to align with current housing costs, further intensifying the financial challenges faced by these families.

Focus Ireland provides an illustrative case involving a €300 mortgage payment. Before the High Court ruling, the assessment treated it as means of €27.39 but post ruling the assessment increased substantially to €103.39. The significant loss of €75 in social welfare support is particularly impactful on single-parent families already facing financial challenges. I believe that mortgage payments should not be regarded as means as they target single-parent families in reducing their already minimal income. This is the case with families who are in the process of splitting up.

We have mentioned the single-family payment and women. Some 99% of the cases in our office relate to women but we also have male single parents. I would like that to be recognised. While they are in a minority, they must be acknowledged because we have fantastic parents out there, male and female, who are doing the best for their children.

This legislation is going in the right direction but it needs to be looked at in its entirety to make sure it covers all family members. We must look again at inflation costs in this country. Everything must reflect that going forward. I commend the Minister on what she has done with the legislation so far and look forward to the implementation of further legislation in the future.

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