Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in relation to recovery of unpaid maintenance to recipients of one-parent family payment by absent parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5240/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Applicants for one-parent family payment are required to make efforts to seek adequate maintenance from their former spouses, or, in the case of unmarried applicants, the other parent of their child, and must satisfy the Department that they have made reasonable attempts to obtain such maintenance. Similarly, under the Liability to Maintain the Family provisions of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, absent parents have a responsibility to support their children and this is pursued by my Department where the absent parent is not making sufficient effort to provide adequate support.

In every case where a one-parent family payment is awarded, the case is referred to the maintenance recovery unit of my Department. Where appropriate, that unit then seeks to trace the other parent, referred to as the liable relative, to ascertain whether he or she is in a financial position to contribute towards the cost of the one-parent family payment. The follow-up activity takes place within 2 or 3 weeks of the award of payment. Liable relatives earning more than €18,000 are assessed with maintenance liability. Certain categories of liable relative are not pursued due to personal circumstances such as age or allegation of violence or because they have low incomes, such as those earning less than €18,000 or those in receipt of a social welfare payment. All liable relatives assessed with maintenance are notified by my Department and are issued with a Determination Order setting out the amount of contribution assessed. Decisions on the amount assessed can be appealed by liable relatives to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. During 2007, Determination Orders were issued in 1,842, or 16%, of the 11,528 cases examined.