There were 88,734 lone parent claims in payment at the end of September 2001, the latest date for which statistics are available. These include separated or unmarried clients in receipt of the one-parent family payment introduced in 1997 and also those still receiving the former lone parent allowance or payments under the deserted wife's benefit and allowance schemes. Under social welfare legislation, applicants for these schemes are required to make ongoing efforts to seek adequate maintenance from their former spouses, or in the case of unmarried applicants, the parents of their child. Such maintenance is normally obtained by way of negotiation or by court order under family law, though separated couples are increasingly using the family mediation service which my Department has been extending countrywide.
Under the relevant provisions of the Social Welfare Acts, a person has a legal responsibility to support his-her spouse and dependent children. Where social welfare support is being provided to the one-parent family, the other parent is legally liable to contribute to the cost of that support. The relevant legislation allows my Department to seek recovery from liable relatives through the courts in appropriate cases. Information is not available on the number of one-parent family payment clients who are in receipt of maintenance from the other parent. Neither is information available on the number of such clients who have taken legal action in pursuit of such maintenance. Independent research shows, however, that only 13% of family law court maintenance orders are honoured regularly. A review of the one-parent family payment was conducted as part of the Department's expenditure review programme.
On the issue of maintenance, the review recommended that maintenance recovery activity be intensified while bearing in mind value-for-money considerations. It was also proposed that OFP claimants be allowed to retain 50% of any maintenance they secure, as an encouragement for them to seek maintenance. This recommendation was adopted and provision accordingly was made in the Social Welfare Act, 2001. In the light of the review my Department has intensified its efforts in pursuing people who default on their obligations. The resources devoted to this activity have been increased. Procedures have been revised and maintenance recovery activity commences within three weeks of each new award of OFP. There are currently 652 liable relatives contributing to my Department. Those who default in their obligations under this legislation will be pursued in appropriate cases, if necessary through legal action. A number of cases are under consideration for legal proceedings at present.
The operation of these arrangements is under active review and the question of further changes, if any, will be considered in the light of the experience gained.
