Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join Senator Boyhan in inviting the Minister for Social Protection to come to the House to discuss the two specific issues highlighted by the Senator. I would like to mention another issue with payments, the effects of which women are most vulnerable to. Under the current system in Ireland, women are ordered by the one-parent family system to go to court to seek maintenance from the fathers of their children. When they do so, court orders for maintenance are made and equivalent amounts are deducted from the one-parent family payments made to these women. The State steps back out at this point and does not take a role in ensuring these moneys are extracted from the fathers, for example, through tax or from their social welfare payments. On paper, it appears that women are receiving maintenance, but in reality they are not. This is pushing them further and further into poverty. I would like to add this to the list of issues to be discussed with the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, if he comes to the House.