Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
85. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will re-examine the report by the Child Maintenance Review Group, and the failure to find consensus on the establishment of a statutory child maintenance service; if he will examine this matter more broadly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2687/26]
View answerThe Report of the Child Maintenance Review Group was published in 2022. The Government accepted the Group's recommendations in relation to the social welfare system.
The Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 2024 provided for changes to the social welfare means test to exclude child maintenance payments from assessment in all means-tested payments from my Department. As a result, the full amount of child maintenance a person receives is no longer assessed in the means test for any social welfare payment, including secondary payments such as fuel allowance and the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance.
In addition, regulations were signed which removed the "efforts to seek maintenance" requirement. This means that applicants for One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment are no longer required to make efforts to seek maintenance from their child’s other parent.
There was no consensus among the review Group members regarding the establishment of a Child Maintenance Agency. The group was chaired by a former Circuit Court Judge and included legal, policy, academic professionals and officials.
It is important to note that the social welfare changes introduced following the report’s recommendations had the effect of decoupling issues relating to child maintenance from the social welfare system.
Matters of family law, including child maintenance, come under the remit of the Department of Justice. I understand that it is working on the introduction of an on-line Child Maintenance Calculator, which is being designed to help parents agree an amount of child maintenance payable for their children. The intention to help parents to make their own arrangements directly, or with help from a solicitor or a family mediation service.
