Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 May 2026
749. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the oversight that exists to ensure that repeated non-compliance with court orders does not occur without enforcement action. [37581/26]
View answer743. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether consideration has been given to introducing stronger sanctions for repeated breaches of maintenance orders, particularly in cases where arrears are routinely paid at the last minute to avoid enforcement. [37575/26]
View answer745. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the financial impact on custodial parents, who must repeatedly return to court to enforce maintenance orders, has been assessed. [37577/26]
View answer746. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the operation of the family law system in relation to maintenance enforcement has been reviewed in recent years; and if so, the findings of that review. [37578/26]
View answer747. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the impact of unpaid maintenance on children's welfare and access to education has been assessed at a national level. [37579/26]
View answer748. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if data is collected on the frequency of breaches of maintenance orders and the average duration of arrears. [37580/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 749, 743, 745, 746, 747 and 748 together.
It is important to note that the management of the courts and the conduct of court proceeding is a matter entirely for the Judiciary and the Courts Service. The courts are, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions.
The Review of the Enforcement of Child Maintenance Orders, completed by officials in my Department, was published on 8 January 2024. The Review put forward 26 recommendations focused on generating maximum compliance with child maintenance orders, to ensure security and stability for children and to aid poverty prevention. The key recommendations of the review include:
• Development of a set of child maintenance guidelines.
• Running an awareness campaign highlighting the importance of paying child maintenance and promoting a ‘culture of paying’
• Strengthening attachment of earnings orders and exploring the possibility of attaching an order to a PPS number rather than employing entities, so that orders do not lapse when there is a change in employer.
• Introduction of a single enforcement procedure when the receiving parent makes an enforcement application, allowing the judge to choose the most appropriate enforcement option based on the circumstances of the case.
• Simplification of the bench warrant process.
• Placing the onus on paying parents to pay costs associated with enforcement proceedings.
• Introduction of an information sharing agreement between Revenue, the Department of Social Protection and the Courts Service .
• Allowing for deductions from social welfare, the paying parent’s bank accounts, from government grants and subsidies and allowing for the recovery of arrears from tax refunds.
An interdepartmental group (“The Child Maintenance Guidelines Committee”) was established in February 2024 to develop the child maintenance guidelines for use by all parties, on a voluntary basis, when putting child maintenance arrangements in place. The Committee was Chaired by my Department and its membership included representatives from the Department of Social Protection, Department of Children, Disability and Equality, Legal Aid Board, Courts Service and Tusla.
Development of the guidelines was informed by a comprehensive comparative review covering England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands. It was also critically important to listen to the views of parents who have been involved in making child maintenance arrangements. For this reason, in April 2025, the Committee conducted a survey-based consultation to get the public's views on important aspects of the guidelines.
On 19 January this year, I published Ireland’s first set of Child Maintenance Guidelines, along with the report on the public consultation. The published guidelines and accompanying report can be accessed at the following link: [https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/publications/child-maintenance-guidelines-for-ireland/].
The Guidelines are compatible with Irish legislation on child maintenance and can be used by the courts. However, the courts are not obliged to consider the guidelines when making child maintenance orders. The objectives of the Guidelines include:
To establish fair, consistent and predictable amounts of maintenance for children whose parents are not together.
To increase transparency, consistency and predictability for those seeking and paying child maintenance.
To reduce conflict and tension between parents by making the calculation of child maintenance more objective.
To reduce the number of child maintenance applications made to the courts by giving parents guidance in setting the levels of child maintenance and by encouraging private maintenance agreements.
To ensure consistent treatment of parents and children who are in similar circumstances.
To promote a culture of payment of child maintenance.
Once the Guidelines were finalised an accompanying online calculator was developed to make the guidelines and launched on 26 February 2026. It is available at [https://childmaintenancecalculator.ie/]. The guidelines and accompanying calculator are a first for Ireland and significant step forward to improving fairness, consistency and transparency when parents are making child maintenance arrangements. The child maintenance calculator is intended as a voluntary support tool to help parents begin the process of working out an appropriate amount of child maintenance for their child or children. In line with another recommendation in the Review, my Department also undertook a social media campaign in October 2025, to reinforce the importance of paying child maintenance and complying with Child Maintenance orders.
The Programme for Government commits to enhancing the enforcement mechanisms for child maintenance orders to ensure that children receive the financial support they need from both parents. In line with this commitment, consideration of legislative amendments required to give effect to the Review’s recommendations is underway.
Data on the frequency of breaches of maintenance orders and the average duration of arrears is not readily available.
