I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 10 together.
Where a marriage breakdown occurs and a family is dependent on social welfare income maintenance, the person who is liable to maintain that family must contribute to my Department towards the cost of the family's income support. The provisions of Part 9 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 allow for the transfer to my Department of all court maintenance received by a claimant, including maintenance paid to children, to offset their spouse's liability.
In situations where the family is adequately maintained by the liable relative, that is where the maintenance, which may relate to both the claimant and dependent children, exceeds the maximum rate of deserted wife's benefit or lone parent's allowance appropriate to the family size, then my Department is not involved in income support. However, if the level of maintenance is inadequate or no maintenance is paid to the family, my Department supports the family through the appropriate income support scheme.
When a deserted wife is awarded deserted wife's benefit, then her spouse becomes liable to contribute to my Department towards that benefit. Where that spouse is paying maintenance on foot of a court order, that order must be transferred to my Department to offset his liability.
The rationale behind this measure is that my Department guarantees the lone parent a regular weekly payment and recovers some of the cost from the liable relative, including payments he makes in compliance with a court maintenance order. A woman on deserted wife's benefit with three children will receive from July next £64.50 plus £17 for each child, that is a total of £115.50 per week. This is the same payment as applies in the case of a widow.
If the liable relative defaults on court maintenance payments subsequently my Department can take action under social welfare legislation. This removes the onus on deserted or separated spouses to have to seek court enforcement under family law themselves where they are not receiving maintenance regularly.
Since the legislation was introduced in November, 1990 my Department has concentrated on identifying whether there is a liable relative and whether he or she is in a position to pay a contribution. At the end of this process existing recipients of deserted wife's benefit or allowance or lone parent's allowance may be requested to transfer their maintenance payments to the Department. In all cases the Department seeks transfer of maintenance payments from a current date only. In no case are any arrears of maintenance sought from the lone parent. Where such transfer of maintenance takes place in the case of a person receiving a lone parent's allowance, their rate of weekly allowance is adjusted upwards to reflect the loss of means through maintenance.
All new applicants for lone parents or deserted wife's payment are made aware from the outset that if their claim is successful any court maintenance payments which they are in receipt of will be transferable to the Department. They are guaranteed their maximum weekly benefit or allowance entitlement in that situation.
