Dáil debates
Wednesday, 29 July 2020
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Child Maintenance Payments
11:30 am
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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27. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties faced by lone parents in terms of child maintenance payments; if reform in the area will be a priority; if so, the timeline for such reforms; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19007/20]
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Minister aware of the difficulties being faced by loan parents when it comes to the collection of child maintenance payments? Will reform in this area, as indicated in the programme for Government, be a priority for her?
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am conscious that the Covid-19 public health restrictions have added to the strain on all parents, and lone parents in particular. While my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, has lead responsibility for maintenance issues, my Department has moved swiftly to address issues that have been raised regarding maintenance for lone parents as a result of the pandemic.
At the outset of the pandemic, my Department ensured that the pandemic unemployment payment could be paid concurrently with certain social welfare payments, including the one-parent family payment and the jobseekers' transitional payment. My Department has also simplified the system for lone parents to declare the non-payment of maintenance. This ensures that lone parents who are not receiving maintenance do not have to wait until the court order is changed to get their one-parent family or jobseeker's transitional payments reassessed. This measure aims to ensure that lone parents in receipt of these schemes do not experience major income losses due to their maintenance payments ceasing.
Regarding longer term reform, my predecessor established a child maintenance review group to examine a number of issues relating to child maintenance. Specifically, the group is tasked with examining whether there is a case for the establishment of a child maintenance agency. The group is being chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Catherine Murphy. The programme for Government reasserted the commitment by the Government to be guided by international best practice and the findings of this review.
The purpose of the child maintenance review group is to consider and make recommendations on the current treatment within the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection of child maintenance payments, the current provisions relating to the liable relatives regarding child maintenance, and the establishment of a State child maintenance agency. It is envisaged that the group will undertake a consultation exercise with representative groups and the public as part of its work. The group will be holding its first meeting in the coming weeks and it is intended that it will submit a report to me within 12 months.
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I acknowledge the commitment in the programme for Government to reform our child maintenance system. My party tabled proposals in 2018, and a revised version in 2019, on establishing a child maintenance service, which is badly needed. Lone parent families feature too highly in rates of consistent poverty, deprivation and beingat risk of poverty. They need to be considered. Evidence shows that the payment of maintenance can make a difference when it comes to poverty. As such, I welcome the Minister's commitment in that regard. I appreciate that this interlinks with the Department of Justice and Equality, but I see no reason it could not be done if the two Departments worked together. Will the Minister examine Sinn Féin's proposals on establishing a child maintenance service similar to the one that works well in the North?
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There will be a North-South Ministerial Council meeting on Friday and I will be happy to hear from my counterpart in Northern Ireland as to how its child maintenance agency works. I thank the Deputy for that suggestion.
This is a complex issue. As the Deputy knows, parents have a responsibility to pay maintenance for their children. However, some do not pay. I saw that at first hand when I worked as a manager of a credit union, where parents - mainly women - were down at the breadline because they could not get their maintenance payments. It was a very difficult time for them. As such, I am glad that the review group has been established and I look forward to its findings. I am happy to work with the Deputy on this matter. It is something that impacts on women in particular. I want to see improvements in the area.
Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I take it from that that the Minister will examine our proposals. I am happy to furnish her with a copy of them. They have been published twice in recent years.
There are two issues with child maintenance. First, where those payments are actually made, they are viewed as household means for many social welfare supports. That is wrong and the Minister needs to examine the matter. Child maintenance should be viewed as a payment towards the child's upbringing, not as household means for social welfare supports that are badly needed by lone parent families.
Second, the Minister mentioned the liable relative in her response. The liable relative is pursued by her Department when recouping costs under the one-parent family payment, but he or she is not pursued for child maintenance. The issue is firmly left with the Courts Service, which is no place for a lone parent. Nine times out of ten, lone parents will not even bother going down the court route because they do not want to be in the court system. There are no statutory guidelines on how maintenance should be paid. It is left up to the judge on the day. If the non-custodial parent does not pay the maintenance order, it is on the lone parent to pursue the matter. That is too much for a lone parent. We need to support lone parent families.
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The review group will examine the treatment within the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection of child maintenance payments, the current provisions relating to liable relatives regarding child maintenance, and the establishment of a child maintenance agency. There are very experienced people on the group and I look forward to receiving their report in due course.