Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Black's amendment to the Order of Business. I wish to raise my concern about and hope for the group announced by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection regarding a statutory maintenance agency. I have been a bit scarred by judge-led task forces in recent years with regard to my drug decriminalisation Bill and how that panned out. The Minister means well and is eager to move forward with a statutory maintenance agency so that the State can pursue absent parents for financial support for the parent instead of, in most cases, the woman having to pursue the father.I am concerned about what the timeline may be. The research is already there, so I do not think we need to carry out more research and we just need to know which type of statutory agency works best in Ireland. I am worried that we will move towards a general election and a new department but this research will not be carried out. I hope that, when possible, the Minister, Deputy Doherty, can come to the Chamber to discuss this very important issue of the statutory maintenance agency and give us much more feedback on how she sees the work being carried out.

I have a Bill that is currently being drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisors in regard to a statutory agency and I do not want to cross over with other work. It has been a long time coming. Dolphin House is not a nice place for women to have to continue to be in order to pursue maintenance when this ends up pushing them further into poverty and further into abusive relationships. I hope the Leader will communicate with the Minister, Deputy Doherty, in the coming days.