Vol. 457 No. 4
170 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Social Welfare the current number of instances where maintenance deductions are made at source, namely, from income and paid directly to his Department rather than to the deserted spouse. [15345/95]
Where a lone parent family is dependent on a social welfare payment, the person who is liable to maintain that family must contribute to the Department towards the cost of the family's income support. A total of 236 liable relatives are contributing to the Department at present, mostly by way of transferred maintenance orders. In eight of these the contributions to the Department are made on foot of an attachment of earnings order. Lone parent allowances have been reduced in approximately another 300 cases because of the receipt of maintenance payments.
