Child maintenance payments could be collected by Revenue or deducted at source by An Post as part of a shake-up of supports to children of separated parents.
Also planned are suspended sentences for parents who fail to pay child maintenance and new powers for the courts to freeze non-paying parents’ assets or order sheriffs to enforce maintenance orders.
The wide-ranging changes, outlined in a report published on Monday by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, come after many years of lobbying by advocates for one-parent families and their children who experience some of the highest poverty rates in the country.
The report compiled by the Child Maintenance Review group, established by Government in 2020 and entitled Review of the Enforcement of Child Maintenance Orders, makes 26 recommendations. It notes, “the current system for the enforcement of child maintenance orders is suboptimal” and “enhanced enforcement mechanisms are needed to ensure compliance”.
Ms McEntee said she intended to “move swiftly” to full implementation. “Non-payment of child maintenance is a common problem and the current enforcement options available are limited in scope and impact. This is clearly unacceptable, given the critical source of income which it can represent,” she said.
[ Irish one-parent families fall below European average for purchasing powerOpens in new window ]
“That is why, working with Minister [for Social Protection] Heather Humphreys, I am determined to take action in this area to ensure that every child is properly supported.”
The report notes in 2021 there were 5,451 applications for maintenance in the District Court, where the vast majority of applications are made.
“While in some instances the amount of maintenance is low and not enough to lift a child out of poverty, nevertheless it can still make a real and material difference to their lives. This measure is only one of a number of cross-Government measures aimed at lifting children out of poverty,” says the report.
Child maintenance guidelines should be drawn up and published, it adds. “Ireland is an outlier” in not having these. “Judges should have regard to the guidelines in all cases”, but “should retain their judicial discretion”.
Attachment orders “should be promoted as a method of payment of maintenance orders from the outset” and “the possibility of linking attachment orders to the paying parent’s PPSN should be examined further”.
While the courts service could continue managing attachment orders, “maintenance payments could be collected and transferred by Revenue”, it notes. “A similar service is provided by Revenue in collecting Local Property Tax.”
Where paying parents are welfare recipients, “attachment could be managed through An Post”.
[ The Irish Times view on child maintenance paymentsOpens in new window ]
To tackle paying parents failing to disclose all their assets, legislation will allow third-party discovery to order banks and financial institutions to disclose account details of the parties, and an information-sharing agreement will be drawn up between Revenue, the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Agriculture and the Courts Service.
Beefing up court enforcement powers, described as “highly inadequate”, will include increased capacity “to freeze money and assets” where a parent moves to dispose of them; to “send the judgment to the sheriff for enforcement”, and to regard failure to pay as contempt of court. “The possibility of imposing suspended sentences for non-payment of child maintenance should be explored.”
A “culture of payment” should be fostered, including a “national media campaign promoting the payment of maintenance and framing it as the right of the child and the responsibility of the parent to provide for their child”.
[ Father narrowly avoids jail over failure to pay €7.50 per week maintenanceOpens in new window ]
It says mediation should be “mandatory” for parents before an application can be made to the courts to encourage them to reach their own maintenance agreement, which would then be ruled on in court.
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