Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for the opportunity to speak on the Social Welfare (Liable Relatives and Child Maintenance) Bill.

I welcome the legislation and its intention to change the social welfare means test so that child maintenance payments will no longer be assessed as means. It is totally inappropriate to ever treat child maintenance as a household income when it is intended specifically for the child. This change is long overdue. In 2022, CSO figures showed that 43.5% of one-parent families were living in deprivation in comparison with 17.7% of people in two-parent households. In addition, 23.8% of one-parent families were at risk of poverty and 14.1% were in consistent poverty.

Recent findings from Growing Up in Ireland show higher levels of disadvantage among one-parent families and that financial strain is substantially higher for one-parent families, with 21% experiencing financial hardship. Lone-parent families are also consistently at a greater risk of homelessness and are significantly overrepresented in emergency accommodation. These figures clearly show that Government policy designed to tackle poverty is failing. In 2022, 17% of Irish households were headed by one parent, with more than five times more one-parent mother families than one-parent father families. In my constituency of Donegal, 6,410 families with children were headed by single mothers and 1,182 by single fathers.

There is no doubt there is a national narrative around family at the moment given the upcoming referendums on family and care in March. Many people in this country believe they are pro-women and pro-equality. They may be shocked to read the statistics on the notable and pervasive gender pay gap and the poverty rate for lone parents. They may also be shocked to hear others make sexist or misogynist remarks about single mothers or maternity leave being a holiday. Sadly, there are many who will not be shocked by these conversations or statistics. I refer to those who have first-hand experience of what it is like to be a lone parent in a country where it has taken us until 2024 to consider changing the legal definition of family beyond the scope of marriage.

The term "single mother" is almost a loaded one. One must ask why that is. They are the parents who stayed, yet our misogynistic society uses that against them, while the other parent escapes stigma. To add insult to injury, the parent who is raising the child then has to chase down financial contributions from the other parent. Worse still is the fact that this is considered as means when assessing a social welfare claim. The fact that the burden has been left to the caring parent for this long is an absolute disgrace, as if the person did not have enough on their plate as a lone parent. I am glad this has been addressed to some extent in the legislation, although for some it is too late.

It is disappointing that the Bill did not include the committee's pre-legislative scrutiny recommendation to set up a statutory child maintenance agency as a first step before progression to family courts. That is despite the fact that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission stated that reliable and adequate provision of child maintenance can be an effective poverty reduction measure and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women recommended that Ireland consider establishing a statutory maintenance authority and prescribing amounts for child maintenance in order to reduce the burden on women of having to litigate to seek child maintenance orders. The justice committee also recommended that a statutory child maintenance agency be established.

It is time that Ireland started to show due respect to lone-parent families and also to carers, the majority of whom are also women and many of whom also experience significant financial strain. I do not understand why carers, who are saving the State hundreds of millions in costs every year, are actively hemmed into poverty by our social welfare means-testing policy. A parent who cares for a disabled child is allowed to work 18 hours per week and to earn no more than €450 per week, as implemented in the last budget. This implies that these circumstances would only occur to those on a smaller income or in a position to carefully monitor hours. Let us consider the ramifications of that. Disabled people are already more impacted by poverty than other sections of the population. Disabled children and their parent carers are having their financial situation curtailed. The Government should remember that carers are providing the State with assistance, not the other way around.

As with the situation regarding maintenance, it is time we stopped creating social policy with the few opportunists who may find a way to take advantage in mind and start ensuring we treat all our citizens with respect and empathy. First and foremost, this is what needs to be addressed, if we are serious about creating an equal society for women in 2024.

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