Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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492. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on plans to bring forward legislation as per the recommendations by the child maintenance review group, especially around the inclusion of child maintenance as household means in means tests for social welfare supports; when this legislation will be introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4306/23]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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506. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide more details regarding the announcement on 18 November 2022 that maintenance payments will not be included in means testing in the future; when legislative effect will be given to this change; if it applies to all means tested social welfare payments such as jobseeker’s allowance, working family payment, jobseeker’s transitional payment and if the arrangements will be backdated to the date of the announcement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4679/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 492 and 506 together.

The Government established a Child Maintenance Review Group in 2020 to examine a number of issues regarding child maintenance in Ireland and to prepare a report for the Minister for Social Protection on:

(i) The current treatment within the Department of Social Protection of child maintenance payments,

(ii) The current provisions relating to the liable relatives regarding child maintenance, and

(iii) The establishment of a State Child Maintenance Agency.

I am pleased that the Government accepted the Group's recommendations in relation to the social welfare system.

As a result, child maintenance payments will be disregarded in the means test for social welfare payments.  This measure will mean that many lone parents currently on reduced rates of payment will see their payment increase.  It will also mean that some additional lone parents will qualify for a payment.  It is estimated that this measure will be of direct benefit to approximately 16,000 lone parents at a cost of approximately €10 million per year.

My Department is also removing the "efforts to seek maintenance" requirement from One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker's Transitional Payment.  This requirement often involved lone parents having to go to Court to seek a maintenance order, so this change will remove a potential additional stress for them, as well as helping to reduce the burden on our courts system. 

In addition, the liable relative provisions will be discontinued.  This means that my Department will no longer seek to recoup a portion of claim costs from the non-resident parent.  I want to be very clear that removing these provisions does not replace or supersede the primary responsibility of parents to maintain their children.

These are very significant reforms of the social welfare system which will be of great benefit to lone parents.  Introducing these changes requires amendments to both primary and secondary legislation, the details of which are currently being examined.  The reforms will also necessitate changes to some of my Department’s systems, application forms and processes. 

My officials are working on advancing the legislative provisions and associated issues at present to ensure implementation as early as possible. In the meantime, and on administrative basis, my Department is not requiring people to make efforts to seek maintenance from their child's other parent and the liable relative provisions are not being applied to new claims for One-Parent Family Payment.