Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
659. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Social Protection whether the disregard of only a portion of maintenance payments in means tests continues to apply; whether she intends to make changes to this provision in the Social Welfare Bill planned for later in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40717/23]
View answerThe Report of the Child Maintenance Review Group was published last November and the Government has accepted the Group's recommendations regarding the social welfare system. I am pleased to say that, pending the introduction of the necessary legislation, my Department has already implemented some of the recommended changes on an administrative basis.
My Department is no longer applying the "efforts to seek maintenance" requirement to One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker's Transitional Payment. This had been done on an administrative basis since the end of last year. However, I have since signed a Regulation to remove this requirement from the statutory provisions. This requirement often involved lone parents having to go to Court to seek a maintenance order, so this change removes a potential additional stress for them, as well as helping to reduce the burden on our courts system.
In addition, the liable relative provisions are not being applied to new claims for One-Parent Family Payment. This means that my Department will no longer seek to recoup a portion of claim costs from the non-resident parent in these cases. I want to be very clear that removing these provisions does not replace or supersede the primary responsibility of parents to maintain their children.Furthermore, 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 and 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.
Work on the legislation to allow for the exclusion of child maintenance payments in the assessment of means and the removal of the liable relative provisions is at an advanced stage. The draft Heads of Bill are undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny at the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development today.
These reforms decouple child maintenance and social welfare. These are very significant reforms of the social welfare system, which will be of great benefit to lone parents.
