Written answers

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Departmental Expenditure

9:00 pm

Photo of Emmet StaggEmmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she is taking to reduce the cost of the one parent family payment by ensuring that all parents capable of making maintenance payments do so. [8922/10]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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All one–parent family payment (OPFP) applicants are requested to provide details of the other parent of their child (ren). This information includes the name, address and whether he/she is in employment or receiving payments from the Department or the Health Service Executive (HSE). The applicant is also requested to submit long version birth certificates for each child. In a significant number of cases the other parent of the child will be named on the child's birth certificate.

Applicants for one-parent family payment are required to make ongoing efforts to look for adequate maintenance from their former spouses, or, in the case of unmarried applicants, the other parent of their child. They must satisfy the Department that they have made reasonable attempts to obtain such maintenance.

Separated one parent family payment claimants must demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to obtain support before their lone parent payment is awarded. Unmarried claimants must demonstrate similar efforts after their claim is awarded. Guidelines as to the steps to be taken in making reasonable efforts to obtain maintenance are published on the Department's website.

The purpose of the Department of Social and Family Affairs' maintenance recovery operation is to recover some or all of the moneys being expended on social welfare payments for lone parents.

In every case where a one-parent family payment is awarded, the maintenance recovery unit of the Department seeks to trace the other parent, referred to as the liable relative, in order to ascertain whether he or she is in a financial position to contribute towards the cost of one-parent family payment. The follow-up activity takes place within 2-3 weeks of the award of payment.

All liable relatives assessed with maintenance liability are notified by the Department and they are issued with a determination order setting out the amount of contribution assessed. The amount assessed can be reviewed where new information comes to light about the financial or household circumstances of the liable relative. Decisions on the amounts assessed can be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

During 2009 the maintenance recovery unit has examined 13,191 cases and issued determination orders to 2,170 liable relatives. Of the 2,170 Determination Orders issued in 2009, 72.5% of the liable relatives were already contributing to the lone parent.

Direct contributions from liable relatives in 2009 amounted to EUR 3.3 million.

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