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

I am glad the Deputy brought this matter up. Due to the child maintenance review that was carried out, I have changed the legislation so that from the beginning of this month, child maintenance is no longer taken into consideration as part of the means test. A person does not have to go to court to prove what he or she is getting or not getting. All of that is being disregarded and one-parent families are now able to make their claim without the need for recourse to the courts. That maintenance is for the children and now it is not included as part of the means test. I was glad to be able to change that because it has made a difference and particularly for women who had to go in and out of court to prove they were not getting the payment, and then they had to go to the social welfare office. Then their partner would miss a week, pay one week and miss another few, then pay another and it was torture for those unfortunate people who found themselves in that situation. I am glad I was able to change that legislation. I was very keen to change this because I saw it often enough from my days in the credit union where mothers in particular, were unfortunately left in very difficult circumstances when they were not getting the payment and their social welfare payment was based on that income.

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