Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
1008. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of lone parents who are in receipt of the one-parent family payment; the number of liable relatives who are contributing to payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19769/22]
View answerThe ‘liability to maintain family’ provisions, contained in social welfare legislation, are separate to, and do not negate or supersede parents’ obligations under Family Law. Where a person is in receipt of One Parent Family Payment (OFP), the liability to maintain family provisions provide my Department with a legislative basis to carry out an assessment of the other parent and to issue a Determination Order for them to pay a contribution either to the Department or to the OFP recipient directly.
The purpose of the liable relative provisions is to ensure that, where possible, the non-custodial parent makes a financial contribution to the State where there is an OFP payment in place, thereby reducing the overall cost to the Department and to the State. It is important to point out that my Department does not pursue maintenance payments on behalf of lone parents and it has no role regarding the enforcement of maintenance orders or any other maintenance arrangements.
At the end of February 2022, there were 39,979 people in receipt of OFP. During 2021, approximately 1,500 liable relatives began making payments to either the One-Parent Family payment recipient or directly to the Department.
