Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if it is his Department's policy to pursue unmarried mothers to bring the father of their children to court with the threat that, if they do not, they will lose their entitlement to the rent allowance. [23039/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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It is a statutory condition of eligibility for one-parent family payment from my Department that applicants are required to make ongoing efforts to seek adequate maintenance from their former spouses or, in the case of unmarried applicants, the other parent of their child. Such maintenance is usually obtained by way of negotiation or by court order. In this regard, I am pleased to note that separated couples are increasingly using my Department's family mediation service which is being progressively extended countrywide.

Since 2001, one-parent family payment claimants are allowed to retain 50% of any maintenance received without reduction in their one-parent family payment, as a further incentive to seek support themselves. There are also disregards where such maintenance is paid in respect of rent or mortgage interest on the lone parent family home. Where social welfare support is being provided to a one-parent family, the other parent is liable under the legislation to contribute an appropriate amount regularly to the Department towards the cost of this payment.

In every case where a one-parent family payment is awarded, the maintenance recovery unit of my Department seeks to trace the liable relative involved to ascertain whether she or he is in a financial position to contribute towards the cost of one-parent family payment. This follow up activity normally takes place within two to three weeks of award of payment. All liable relatives assessed with maintenance liability are notified by the Department and issued with a determination order setting out the amount of contribution assessed. The amount assessed can be reviewed where there is new information about, or changes in, the financial or household circumstances of a liable relative. The Department requires regular payment of the contributions assessed in this way, usually weekly.

Rent supplement entitlement is a separate matter and does not have any bearing on my Department's work in the maintenance recovery process. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for the payment of a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent to eligible people whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any alternative source.

Supplementary welfare allowance is subject to a means test. In this regard all income, whether in cash or in kind, must be taken into account in determining the amount of assistance payable in each particular case. It is also a condition of eligibility that applicants apply also for any statutory benefits or take appropriate action to seek other income, including maintenance payments, to which they may be entitled.

In assessing or reviewing entitlement to rent supplement, the Health Service Executive may, depending on the circumstances of a particular case, request a person to seek maintenance from the other parent of their child. In cases where maintenance is being paid, the Health Service Executive may request that additional maintenance be sought if they consider that it is reasonable to do so having regard to the other parent's income. If there is some extenuating reason the rent supplement recipient does not wish to comply with this request, it is open to them to discuss that situation with the community welfare officer.

It is not the practice within the community welfare service to threaten lone parents with loss of their rent supplement if they do not to bring the father of their children to court for maintenance. However, there are instances where withdrawal or rejection of a rent supplement claim occurs because the failure or refusal by the person concerned to comply with the executive's request is unreasonable in the particular circumstances of the case. Where parents are in a position to make provision for their children, it would be inappropriate for the State to facilitate them in evading their responsibilities in that regard.

It is standard practice in the community welfare service, in instances where a payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme is to be withdrawn, that applicants are notified in writing, giving notice of the intention to withdraw the payment and outlining the reason for the action. In all instances of refusal or withdrawal of rent supplement, the applicant has the right of appeal. In the first instance an appeal can be determined by an appeals officer in the relevant regional area of the executive. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the outcome of this initial appeal he or she can request that the case be forwarded to the social welfare appeals office for further independent adjudication.