John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to establish a child maintenance service such as in Northern Ireland to support and assist lone parents in seeking child maintenance payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2058/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of a child maintenance service such as one that currently exists in Northern Ireland would be a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality.In cases where the family unit has broken down obligations regarding child maintenance continue to apply and relevant maintenance payments can be arranged either directly between the couple themselves or through supports like the Family Mediation Service, the Legal Aid Board and the Courts. The arrangement of maintenance is therefore a matter between both parents regardless of whether or not either parent is in receipt of a social welfare payment. My Department has previously indicated its intention to review the current maintenance and liable relative procedures in light of the changes to the one-parent family payment scheme, and work had commenced on this review. Since April 2017, however, work on the review of the one-parent family payment, which was required to be completed over a short timeframe, took priority given the statutory nature of the review.

That review (the Indecon Report) was completed in October 2017and the Report was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Work has now re-commenced on the review of maintenance as it relates to my Department. This review will necessitate my Department liaising with the Department of Justice and Equality as the Family Law Acts, which place a legal obligation on parents to maintain their children, are under the remit of that Department.

This is a complex area however I expect to have a paper from my officials on this shortly.